A crisis is looming large over the Congress-led government in Meghalaya.The fate of Chief Minister D D Lapang will be decided after high command observers Oscar Fernandes and Major Ved Prakash consult with MLAs but the odds are against Lapang, said party sources. Ved Prakash is reaching Shillong on Saturday and Fernandes on Monday. A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) will be convened after initial talks with all sections of the party, leaders said. Lapang, who has been leading the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), ran into trouble after the majority of the Congress MLAs began seeking his replacement. The dissidence, brewing for over six months, escalated after the opposing MLAs boycotted a CLP meeting on June 5.Except for the nine Congress ministers, the remaining 20 party MLAs are against Lapang, said a state leader. In the 60-member state assembly the Congress is supported by smaller parties, and has nine out of 12 ministers.The instability in the ruling alliance started with the downsizing of the Lapang ministry which had 41 members. Due to the new law that caps the number of ministers at 15 per cent of the legislature strength, most of the ministers were dropped in early 2005. State leaders of the party say the understanding then was to rotate the ministers in order to give everyone a chance—and this was just one of the many promises that Lapang could not keep. With the situation threatening to spin out of control, Lapang called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi on May 29. But she was reportedly not inclined to reshuffle the ministry. Now Congress dissidents are saying that the only solution to avoid a split in the party is to replace Lapang. BJP and NCP are adding fuel to the fire by promising to support the dissidents in forming a government if they split.One reason that Lapang could still keep his chair is the absolute lack of agreement among the dissidents for a replacement—there are far too many aspirants: R L Lyngdoh, Mukul Sangma, K K Dkhar and T C Lyngdoh.x
