How BJP outwitted Cong, again
The BJP has usurped power in Meghalaya, through a proxy... showing utter disregard for the mandate of the people. Obsessed instead with grabbing power, using big money to create an opportunistic alliance. RAHUL GANDHI, Congress president
NEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won just two seats in the Meghalaya assembly elections but managed to outmanoeuvre the Congress — the single largest party — by cobbling up numbers to form a coalition government.
This is not the first time this has happened in recent months.
In Goa and Manipur, where it emerged as the party with the maximum seats in last year’s elections, the Congress failed to move quickly and secure the support of other political parties needed to form the government.
There, too, the BJP beat the grand old party, once known for its deft political outmanoeuvring, at its own game.
In Meghalaya, the BJP played a pivotal role in stitching up a mega alliance and securing the support of 34 legislators in the 60-member assembly.
The ruling alliance will be headed by the National People’s Party with 19 seats, and comprise the United Democratic Party (6 seats), People’s Democratic Front (4 seats), Hill State People’s Democratic Party (2 seats), the BJP, and one Independent.
The Congress, with 21 legislators, was left high and dry despite rushing four senior leaders and key strategists — Ahmed Patel, Kamal Nath, Mukul Wasnik and CP Joshi — to Shillong to reach out to the possible allies and avoid a repeat of Goa and Manipur.
But a quick reaction team from the BJP, comprising Union ministers KJ Alphons, Kiren Rijiju and former Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The rule of India’s oldest party is now set to shrink to just four states – Karnataka, Punjab, Mizoram and Puducherry. A confident Congress had not anticipated a fractured verdict and hoped to beat its two-term anti-incumbency, party strategists said. There was no effort to reach out to the small regional outfits for a pre-poll tie-up. As results have indicated, these parties badly hurt the Congress’s prospects.
On the other hand, the BJP was in touch with key players for months and, when the time came, forging a political consensus with them was hardly a tussle.
Away for the weekend to celebrate Holi with his 93-year-old grandmother, Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a stinging attack against the BJP soon after his return.
“With just 2 seats, the BJP has usurped power in Meghalaya, through a proxy. Like in Manipur & Goa, showing utter disregard for the mandate of the people. Obsessed instead with grabbing power, using big money to create an opportunistic alliance. #Democracydemonetised,” he wrote on Twitter.
In another tweet, Gandhi said, “The Congress party respects the mandate of the people of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. We are committed to strengthening our party across the North East and to winning back the trust of the people. My sincere thanks to each and every Congress worker who toiled for the party.”
The BJP has maintained that it was committed to stitching together a non-congress government in the state. Yes