The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won just two out of 29 seats in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) election this week, is playing extremely hard to get with its potential allies in the National People’s Party (NPP), going so far as to demand the post of Chief Executive Member.
The NPP won 11 seats, making it the second-largest party in the council, after the Congress, which won 12.
Despite being allied to the NPP at the state government level, the BJP has been intensely critical of its coalition partner, especially when it came to the handling of the previous GHADC administration, which was led by the NPP.
After the election results were announced yesterday, state BJP president, Ernest Mawrie, expressed reluctance over partnering with the NPP in the GHADC because of the numerous allegations (levelled by the saffron outfit) of corruption against the previous council administration.
State party vice-president Bernard Marak in Tura and Pramod Koch in Barengapara (Dalu) were the two victorious MDCs for the BJP. They were felicitated by the party at a function here today evening.
Meanwhile, the NPP leaders, led by party president and Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, met the three victorious independent MDCs at his Tura residence yesterday. The trio were then rushed to Shillong in an effort to ensure that they cannot be poached by the Congress before the Governor invites the NPP to form the next executive committee.
The independents are Nathawal S Marak from Wagesik, Arbinstone Marak from Rochonpara and Aktar Ali from Zikzak. After pledging support to the NPP they were then taken to Shillong today.
With the support of the three, the NPP’s has support of 14 MDCs but needs one more for a majority in the 29-member house (one additional MDC will be appointed by the state government). Unless a deal can be struck with the BJP, the only other option is the Garo National Council’s lone elected member, Nikman Marak. He has become crucial to the NPP’s calculations but could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, all seems quiet on the Congress front despite the party being the largest in the new GHADC. The possibility that the Congress is deliberately scuppering its chances of leading the EC has been doing the rounds, though no senior leaders could be reached for comment on the matter. The Congress, it has been suggested, does not want to tarnish its image by leading a GHADC that is plagued with seemingly insurmountable problems and would rather build up momentum in opposition before taking the NPP head-on at the Assembly elections, which are due in 2023.
