How NPP-BJP edged out 'friendless' Congress

  • | Tuesday | 6th March, 2018

SHILLONG: The failure to promote relations with regional parties in Meghalaya worked to Congress's disadvantage in the photo finish race for power in Meghalaya. In the past, Congress had been able to stitch together alliances with support from regional parties or Independents. "Regional parties always had to play second fiddle to Congress if they agreed to support it. It had already started feeling the heat of displeased regional parties in the last election, when it had to rely only on Independents to form the ruling coalition. "The regional parties never had any pre-poll understanding with the Congress.

SHILLONG: The failure to promote relations with regional parties in Meghalaya worked to Congress's disadvantage in the photo finish race for power in Meghalaya. Where Congress failed, NPP and BJP gained, winning over the regional parties and putting together a ruling coalition.The parties that held the key to power this time were United Democratic Party (UDP), Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and People's Democratic Front (PDF). Congress has had a difficult relation with all three, which didn't help matters when it tried to cobble an alliance to get the 10 additional seats it needed to stake claim to form the government. Congress won 21 seats (effectively 20 since outgoing chief minister Mukul Sangma will have to step down from one of two constituencies he won from) and NPP 19. The race was a closely contested one. In the past, Congress had been able to stitch together alliances with support from regional parties or Independents. It had already started feeling the heat of displeased regional parties in the last election, when it had to rely only on Independents to form the ruling coalition."Regional parties always had to play second fiddle to Congress if they agreed to support it. Having burnt their fingers in the past, it was unlikely they would do so again," a senior leader of a regional party said.In October last, Congress suspended PN Syiem for "anti-party" activities after he openly rebelled against chief minister Mukul Sangma. By December, he had resigned from the party and joined the newly-floated PDF as its chief. It was the first of many high-profile exits from the party in the run-up to the election. Syiem's relations with Congress had soured to an extent that when his brother was attacked in January this year, he implicated Congress. PDF went on to win four seats this time and was able to push the NPP-BJP alliance past the finish line.Congress's relations with UDP have been more complex. The two parties shared power between 2008 and 2013, with UDP president Donkupar Roy leading the government till 2009, followed by Congress's DD Lapang and, subsequently, Mukul Sangma. With 21 seats, Mukul had a similar proposal in mind when he met Donkupar at his residence. They would share power over the following five years - two-and-half years each. But the plan was unacceptable to Donkupar. "I rejected it for the sake of stability," he said.HSPDP, which won two seats from Sohiong and Mawkyrkat, defeated Congress in both. HSPDP president Ardent Basaiawmoit, who lost Nongkrem to an Independent, had switched over to the party from UDP after being denied a ticket in 2013. Burying the hatchet, UDP and HSPDP had struck a pre-poll alliance, the only parties to do so. With UDP distancing itself from Congress, HSPDP was unlikely to entertain the party either. When a host of leaders quit Congress to join NPP, Basaiawmoit had said those who had joined NPP would "sail through".The regional political outfits became, essentially, anti-Congress forces. "The regional parties never had any pre-poll understanding with the Congress. A post-poll alliance was absolutely out of question," the leader of another regional party said.In contrast, BJP moved fast and handled the post-poll situation deftly. North East Democratic Alliance convener Himanta Biswa Sarma rushed to Shillong as the results started coming in and a fractured mandate seemed inevitable. The speculation about NPP and BJP eventually coming together despite contesting separately turned out to be correct. "We have decided that (NPP president) Conrad Sangma will lead the new government as chief minister," Roy said on Sunday, soon after negotiations with the NPP-BJP leadership.BJP might have won just two seats, but it has clearly emerged as the hero of the battle. That the regional parties were not inimical to a tie-up with BJP was evident during campaigning. Their campaigns were primarily aimed against Congress, remaining tight-lipped about BJP. Both NPP and BJP are starting with a clean slate. BJP's promises of development and political stability seem attractive in a state which has lost faith in Congress. "Such assurances coming from a party in power at the Centre make a lot of impact," a political observer said, adding that northeastern states have had little say in Parliament because of the lack of numbers. They have, therefore, reposed a lot of faith in the ruling dispensation at the Centre.

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