A Contest Between Allies in Meghalaya

The Congress in Meghalaya is facing a double threat from the BJP and the NPP and is facing defections over the past few months to both parties. These defections, in a limited sense, may be considered indicative of the mood in the state. What makes this surprising is that the BJP got into a controversy in the state over the ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter.

Meghalaya is a state wherein three tribes form the majority; Garo, Jaintia, and Khasi. These tribes not only eat beef but are Christians as well. The Congress fired the first shot in the anti-beef ban protests in the state, which prompted the BJP to go into damage control mode. The Congress organised a beef party in the Garo Hills in protest against the blanket ban. Former Achik National Volunteers Corps (ANVC) militant, Bernard N. Marak quit the BJP after his resignation was called for. This was after he had put out a public invitation to a ‘bitchi beef party’ to celebrate three years of Narendra Modi’s government. He had earlier also made statements that the BJP would regulate the price of beef in Meghalaya to make it more affordable for the poor. The fallout of the entire debacle was that 5,000 BJP youth workers quit the party over the issue. The NPP had also written to the Prime Minister on the issue. This eventually prompted the BJP to declare that there would be no beef ban in Meghalaya. This declaration is strange for the BJP whose silence in the face of beef-related lynchings across North India has been duly noted.

What has in most probability dented the image of the Congress in Meghalaya is the sex scandal involving Julius K. Dorphang, an independent MLA and former chairman of the now surrendered Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC). What made this so scandalous is that the victim in the case was a 14-year-old minor, and the offence was committed in a guest house owned by the son of the state Home Minister’s son. The minister was elected on a Congress ticket. This prompted women’s activists to demand that H. D. R. Lyngdoh, the Home Minister, be dropped from the cabinet to allow for a free and fair trial. However, the Chief Minister Mukul Sangma refused their demands. There have also been numerous defections from the Congress mostly to the NPP, however, a few have also joined the BJP. The defections from the Congress have mostly been due to the internal party politics.

The NPP is a BJP ally and has helped the party form the government in Manipur. Whether the alliance will hold in Meghalaya is yet to be seen. The NPP has declared that it will contest around 51 to 53 seats in Meghalaya, which could upset the alliance as the two parties may go up against each other during the campaigning. Conrad Sangma, the party president has also declared that the party will be the single largest party in the assembly. The BJP has also said that it would contest a majority of seats, including 24 from the Garo Hills.