Swing state

J D Rymbai was sworn in as Meghalaya chief minister with his mentor DD Lapang looking on wistfully. An image evocative of the state8217;s politics, writes Tilak Rai

THE irony in Raj Bhavan was palpable. As J D Rymbai was sworn in as chief minister of Meghalaya by Governor S S Singh in the Durbar Hall on June 15, outgoing chief minister D D Lapang looked wistful. Sitting in the front row, Lapang never imagined that the man whom he had brought into politics would one day replace him for the top job.

Way back in 1983, Lapang persuaded Rymbai, who was teaching in a school, to contest Assembly elections from Jirang constituency. Lapang introduced him to the topsy-turvy world of electoral politics in Meghalaya. Decades later, the student upstaged the mentor.

To be fair, Rymbai never scripted the political path that finally ended in his mentor8217;s exit. A low profile and soft-spoken politician8212;some say the least ambitious of all politicians in the state8212;he lacks the craftiness and charisma to plot someone8217;s downfall. In fact, many go as far as saying that he8217;s not chief minister material. But his failing became his strength as Congress dissidents saw the potential of building 8216;an oust Lapang8217; campaign around him. Rymbai was pushed to the hot seat by dissident leaders like former home minister Robert G Lyngdoh and Congress Legislature Party CLP secretary Charles Pyngrope.

Lyngdoh, who was excluded from the Cabinet after the downsizing in 2004, plotted Lapang8217;s downfall.

Lapang paid a heavy price for ignoring him.

INSTABILITY is an inherent part of Meghalaya8217;s politics. So, when Rymbai replaced Lapang after a bitter tug-of-war within the Congress, Meghalaya was only following a predictable course. In this hill state, politics has become synonymous with toppling, defection, and scrabbling for ministerial berths.

Says former chief minister and two-time Assembly Speaker E K Mawlong, 8216;8216;toppling and defection by legislators has only one purpose and that is to get a ministerial berth.8217;8217; He should know: he too was toppled.

In its thirty-four years of statehood, with the exception of the first chief minister, Capt W A Sangma in 1972 and later S C Marak in 1993, not a single government has completed full term in office. Immediately after Meghalaya became a full-fledged state in 1972, Sangma split the All Party8217;s Hills Leaders8217; Conference APHLC and merged it with the Congress to form government. However, Brington Buhai Lyngdoh and S D D Nichols Roy remained with the APHLC. And in 1993, S C Marak led a Congress-led coalition till the end of his term.

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WITH the exception of these two governments, the rest fell like a pack of cards. In B B Lyngdoh, Meghalaya had one of the wiliest politicians. Even when supporting the ruling coalition, Lyngdoh had been dangerous. Ask former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A Sangma who had a rather bad experience with him when he was chief minister in 1988. Lyngdoh, who was part of Sangma-led Congress coalition, engineered a defection and brought down the 48-member strong government. He then formed a coalition led by regional parties. He was, however, toppled and President rule was imposed in 1991. In 1992, it was lifted and Lapang headed a Congress-led coalition.

Meghalaya8217;s politicians also have the knack of inventing political formulas that surprise the rest of the country. After the three flags regional parties8212;APHLC, Hills State People8217;s Democratic Party HSPDP and Public Demand Implementation Convention PDIC government headed by

D D Pugh collapsed within a year in 1979, B B Lyngdoh APHLC and W A Sangma formed a Congress-led coalition government. It was during this time that a historic 8216;8216;gentleman agreement8217;8217; between Lyngdoh and Sangma was hammered out for sharing of the chief minister8217;s post for two years each. Years later this formula was tried between Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh but failed.

But before that how Pugh became the chief minister is pretty amazing itself. There was a tussle between him and HSPDP president Hopingstone Lyngdoh and it was decided that a draw of lots would decide the issue. So Pugh8217;s and Lyngdoh8217;s names were tossed in a legislator8217;s cowboy hat and Rev Father Silvernius Sngi Lyngdoh asked to pick out one. Pugh won the lucky draw.

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POLITICS in Meghalaya can also spring occasional surprises. Where else in the country would an Independent legislator hope to get the top job in the state? On 7 December 2001 in Meghalaya, F A Khonglam became the first ever-Independent legislator in the country to become chief minister. Former Lok Sabha Speaker and Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader Purno A Sangma propped him up as chief minister as he couldn8217;t find any legislator in his party fit enough to become CM.

That is how unpredictable sometimes Meghalaya8217;s predictable politics can get.