Henceforth the Congress will have no representative in the Assembly. But does that matter? MLAs realise soon enough that sitting in the Opposition becomes a pointless exercise. Opposition MLAs know that better than anyone. If a people well past the use of their rational minds can still be appointed advisors to the Chief Minister because they are in the ruling party and be paid out of the public exchequer plus enjoy other facilities, why would a younger, more useful human continue to sit in the Opposition and suffer the consequences of seeing his/her constituency being left unattended or their words not carrying weight? Hence Ronnie V Lyngdoh’s shifting loyalty from the Congress to the National Peoples’ Party (NPP) surprises no one. In Meghalaya the Opposition is a divided house. The Trinamool Congress MLAs don’t confer with the Congress or the Voice of Peoples’ Party (VPP) although that would have made them a formidable Opposition since they comprise senior legislators who could have put the Government on the mat on several issues, not only during the Assembly sessions but through the entire 5-year tenure of the MDA Government.
The role of the Opposition in a democracy involves following closely what Government does or fails to do. It involves visits to different departments such as the PWD, PHED and others to follow up on the schemes left undone, abandoned or unfinished. MLAs have every right to question the bureaucracy through proper channel to find out the reasons for delayed projects. If the Opposition MLAs had this tenacity of purpose they would have been able to correct many of the governance issues. Actually, being an Opposition MLA involves extensive research which is why part of the MLA scheme should be used to employ young researchers who can delve into the implementation of all schemes and financial allocations; detect how money is being used and the outcomes out of those allocations. Monitoring and evaluation of government schemes is the real work of the Opposition. Their job is not merely to point out Government failures during the Assembly sessions and to only speak about their respective constituencies. They are supposed to be ombudsmen keeping track of all Government expenditures and how public money is utilised.
Unfortunately, in Meghalaya, Opposition MLAs are only active during the Assembly sessions which was also noted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) as being the shortest and poorly attended sessions. The role of all legislators in a democracy is also to legislate enlightened laws. Proposals for such bills can come from the Government or the Opposition. Understandably pushing for legislative reforms is the prime role of the Opposition which also means it has to deeply engage in the process and present a united face. This is not the case with the Opposition in Meghalaya. Each group charts its own course just waiting in the wings for the next election with the hope that their fortunes change. Meanwhile people leave the original party from which they were elected, at their convenience. There is no commitment to any political party; everything is aimed at getting the best deal for themselves with people as scapegoats.
