Parties Prepare for Polls in Meghalaya

Meghalaya like Nagaland will go to the polls on February 27, following the Election Commission’s announcement, the West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner declared that the Model Code of Conduct will come into immediate effect. At present, it appears that the odds are stacked against the incumbent Congress government led by Mukul Sangma. This is despite the BJP scrambling for acceptance during the ‘beef controversy’. A recent blow came to the ruling party after the Governor sent a reminder to the Election Commission about disqualifying 17 MLAs for occupying ‘offices of profit’, these MLAs, like in the case of the 20 AAP MLAs in Delhi, had been appointed as parliamentary secretaries.

The parties that are more easily recognisable to those outside the state are the Congress, BJP, and the NPP. Of the three, the NPP and the BJP are ‘allies’ in Parliament as well as in Manipur. However, the two parties have announced that they would contest almost all the constituencies in the state. Other state-specific parties have also upped the ante. The People Democratic Front (PDF) held a rally in the Congress stronghold of Umsning Constituency. The party alleged irregularities in the conduct of mining operations in the area by the non-implementation of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, as well as the lack of a mining policy in the state. The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPD) is in an alliance with the United Democratic Party (UPD), both parties have appealed to the people on the basis of implementing Article 371 of the Constitution, which would allow the people of the state control over the state’s natural resources. Meghalaya produces coal as well as limestone. The alliance has extended to include the Garo National Council (GNC), being termed an alliance of only local parties. The GNC however, is contesting in the Garo Hills on the main platform of creating ‘Garoland’, a campaign promise that may end up souring the alliance. 

The Garo Hills witnessed a short spate of militancy when the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) was formed in 2009 headed by former Deputy Superintendent of Police Pakchara R. Sangma (Champion Sangma), to establish a ‘sovereign Garoland’. In 2010, the government termed them as merely a criminal gang, however in 2012 counter-insurgency operations began in earnest. At present, the GNLA has been severely depleted due to desertions and surrenders.

Tura MP and NPP president Conrad Sangma though successfully swelling the ranks of the NPP through defections from other parties in the state have come into a mild controversy where villagers from Ransel Village have expressed their displeasure at him not keeping a promise. The promise being to erect a mobile tower in the area. The NPP in Meghalaya has denied any alliance with the BJP. The BJP, on the other hand, is facing allegations of violating the Model Code of Conduct when a BJP member from South Shillong was distributing forms for “financial inclusion margin assistance” from the Shillong Municipal Board. The Congress apart from the various allegations that have been raised against it during its tenure has also found itself in a corner over pre-poll violence. Members of the Congress stabbed the brother of a Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) Chief Executive Member. The KHADC Chief Executive Member was a former member of the Congress and had been expelled for ‘anti-party’ activities. He subsequently joined the PDF.