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Politics as farce in Meghalaya

The farcical resolution of Meghalaya's month-long political crisis reflects poorly on the internal state of the Congress party, and on the quality and vision of its national leadership. The change at the helm of the Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance regime has involved rewarding the leader of an inner-party revolt that was fuelled exclusively by greed for the loaves and fishes of office. The new Chief Minister, J.D. Rymbai, is a protégé of the displaced head of government. What triggered the revolt by a majority of the 29 Congress legislators was D.D. Lapang's attempt to downsize his Ministry, as the Constitution required. To add insult to injury, Mr. Rymbai has announced that his predecessor would be given the status of a Chief Minister, possibly through a Bill that would `legitimise' such a constitutionally dubious arrangement. The volatility inherent in the politics of much of northeastern India — Tripura has been the honourable exception — is once again in focus. In the case of compact States, managing the internal contradictions and rivalry is clearly a thankless job. In Meghalaya's case, since its formation in 1972, only two Chief Ministers — Captain Williamson A. Sangma and S.C. Marak — have done five-year terms. In the latest round, the Congress high command has managed to avoid a split in the legislature party. A split would have probably led to a dissolution of the Legislative Assembly considering that the parties in the Opposition — the seven-member Nationalist Congress Party and the two-member Bharatiya Janata Party — were in no position to offer an alternative within the present House.

The political and moral costs of the opportunism demonstrated in Meghalaya are quite high, the message sent out being that if dissidents in the party create enough trouble, they can have their way. At one point, there were indications from New Delhi that the Congress would try to outflank the dissidents by seeking support from the NCP led by P.A. Sangma; and that seems to have brought about a change of mood among the dissidents and a flurry of consultations that facilitated the Rymbai coup. One of the high command's senior emissaries, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was quoted as saying that there was "nothing new" in dissidence. Such cynicism reflects the reality that in-feuding is the natural state of existence of the two leading parties in the Indian political system. In a State that faces significant unrest with a separatist tinge, and is badly in need of a serious agenda of development, the farce that has been enacted could prove especially damaging. For the new Chief Minister, constituting a proper ministry within the numerical limits set by the Constitution will pose a tough challenge, especially given the experience that cut short his predecessor's term in office. The former school teacher who has a reputation as a cool tactician may find that he needs an exceptional political strategy to survive and govern.

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