Opinion - Editorials   

End of a farce

What D.D. Lapang gained in the 10 days he was in office for a new term as Chief Minister of Meghalaya is not very clear, but the damage he caused to the political system by getting himself sworn in hurriedly without majority support in the Legislative Assembly is incalculable. Mr. Lapang did well to step down ahead of the confidence vote, thus avoiding an acrimonious face-off with the Opposition in the Assembly. However, the real issue is his decision to form the government in the first place when the numbers were clearly against him. Evidently, he was hoping to win over MLAs from the rival camp with his first-mover advantage and the promise of ministerial berths to those who switched support to the Congress-led coalition. Indeed, by inducting into his ministry the three independents who supported him, and keeping four ministerial berths vacant, Mr. Lapang was sending out a clear message. As it turned out, there were no takers for such opportunistic politics, and the newly-formed Meghalaya Progressive Alliance held together all its 31 MLAs. Soon after the declaration of results, and well before Mr. Lapang got himself invited to form the government, the numbers game was clear for all to see: the MPA, a post-poll coalition with the United Democratic Party and the Nationalist Congress Party as major partners, was able to demonstrate the support of 31 members in the 60-member Assembly. But Governor S.S. Sidhu, no doubt under the guidance of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, played along with Mr. Lapang.

With the Congress finally reconciling itself to the mismatch between its hopes and the realities on the ground, the Governor had no option but to invite the MPA leader Donkupar Roy to form the government. Although he quit before the floor test, Mr. Lapang did everything in his command to buy time. In a clear break with convention, the Speaker’s election, slated for Monday, was put off till after the confidence vote. The Congress-led government’s lack of majority would have been apparent at the very first test of strength, and Mr. Lapang would have been under pressure to quit immediately after the election of the Speaker. In the event, the Congress only managed to delay the inevitable by a couple of days. The swearing-in and the resignation achieved nothing for the Congress, but brought down the credibility of the institution of Governor. The UPA government will have to take some of the flak for the questionable actions of Mr. Sidhu. The last 10 days in Meghalaya will be remembered for the political humiliation of the Congress and the indefensible action of the Governor.

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