Aditi Phadnis: The Family Sangma

PLAIN POLITICS

Between him and his sons, PA Sangma controls 5% of the Meghalaya Assembly.

So DD Lapang, the man who led the Congress to victory in Meghalaya in the assembly elections last month, has lost the game. After being sworn in as leader of the single largest party and failing to split rivals, Lapang had to resign ten days after being sworn in. Donpukar Roy, who heads the United Democratic Party (UDP), the smaller constituent of the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) comprising the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), UDP, BJP, Hill State Peoples Democratic Party (HSPDP), Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) and independents, is the new chief minister. Behind Lapang's defeat and Roy's victory is artful dodger Purno Agitok Sangma, the Meghalaya chief of the Nationalist Congress Party "" and no, no one is allowed to laugh.

A word about Meghalaya politics. The principal rivalry is between the Khasi and Garo tribes, with those from the Lushai hills coming in the way. The first is represented by Lapang, the second by the Sangmas (of whom there are many, but more on that later), and the third by gentleman politician PR Kyndiah.

The Congress was in power in Meghalaya before the elections, but only just. Fierce factional fighting and tribal rivalry had badly weakened the party, reflected in the rapid turnover of chief ministers. The turnout for the Assembly election was 75 per cent. It was with some surprise that Meghalaya woke up on March 7 (the day of the counting) to find the Congress emerging as the single largest party with 25 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly, six short of a majority. Many blandishments were thrown to smaller parties from the Opposition, but they held firm. An MLA confessed that the offers were attractive but it was 'stifling' to be in the Congress because there were "a lot of ambitious people there".

But this is only part of the explanation. It was deft pre-election handling by Sangma that ensured the MPA endured.

Sangma left the Garo Hills, his home and the place where he learnt politics, more than 20 years ago. He was considered one of Congress's most promising young politicians and rose to become Speaker of the Lok Sabha, a task he carried out with patience and wily good humour.

But carried away by Sharad Pawar, Sangma joined the NCP and became part of the gang that found Sonia Gandhi's "foreign origins" and Congress's "dynastic politics" unacceptable. Initially, the NCP acknowledged on its website that it had to "bow to local pressure in Meghalaya and join the government that also had the BJP in it," but this time around, another electoral alliance with the BJP does not seem to be a bother. The party is in alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra to "keep the BJP-Shiv Sena out," and part of an alliance with the BJP in Meghalaya to keep the Congress out. And as for dynastic politics, well this time, it was not just Sangma who contested (and won) the assembly election but also his two sons, Conrad and James. Between the three of them, Sangma and Sons control 5 per cent of the Meghalaya Assembly.

Sangma scripted the electoral alliance of the NCP in Meghalaya. Although it got 14 seats and throughout the campaign it was Sangma who was projected as the chief ministerial candidate, he deferred his claim. The UDP with 11 MLAs was offered the chief ministership because Sangma realised that the alliance could be kept intact only if a rotating chief ministership like J&K's was put in place. He himself is likely to become the chief of the state planning panel till the middle of the government's term when he will take over as chief minister. With all the money for development offered to the north-east in the budget, Meghalaya is going to ensure it gets its share.

Meghalaya is one of the most interesting north-eastern states because of the nature of its ruling class. Sterling work done by the Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms reveals that out of a total 331 candidates contesting the Meghalaya Assembly elections, only seven declared their PAN numbers. Nine said they didn't have a PAN number, while the remaining 315 candidates just didn't cite it.

A woman candidate from the Congress listed her declared assets as being worth over Rs 11 crore with three luxury cars, but without a PAN number. Twenty-seven candidates declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. Of them, ten were from the Congress, seven from the NCP and six from the smaller parties.

With this MLA profile, politics can never be a losing proposition in Meghalaya. The question is, what is the Congress going to do about it? The last time the state was in the news, it was because of ethnic tensions stirred up against a background of tribal Garo-Khasi rivalry. If the ruling alliance is not careful, that could happen again.

Roy is a man who lists reading, playing chess and fishing as his hobbies. He has a PhD in Economics and was a teacher at the Shillong-based North Eastern Hill University before joining politics. No doubt all these qualities have endeared him to Sangma who thinks he will be just the right person to keep the seat warm for him.

But Roy was also in the Lapang government as deputy chief minister and can always return there.