Meghalaya: Will VPP’s gamble pay off in autonomous council elections?

Voters have cast their ballots, and we will soon know the results of the highly contested District Council election. This time, the ramifications of the election intensified interest and heightened tensions, even though the next assembly election is still three years away.

There is a high possibility that in at least one of the district councils, a change of guard is highly possible. The VPP (Voice of the People’s Party), a party formed in 2021, created an upset in the last parliamentary election when their candidate, Ricky AJ Syngkon, won the Shillong seat by garnering over 50% of the votes polled.

Observers believe the VPP will gain seats in the District Councils and play a crucial role in forming the Executive Committee, the Council’s governing body.

The VPP’s spectacular success over the last few years stems from widespread dissatisfaction with the ruling dispensation, which is accused of being highly corrupt. It was the Union Minister Amit Shah who had claimed while campaigning for the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) during the last parliamentary elections that Meghalaya was one of the most corrupt states in the country.

However, the election results completely changed the situation. The party changed its tune and formed a coalition with the NPP (National Peoples’ Party) which had headed the previous government. Other political parties like the UDP (United Democratic Party) who had also accused the NPP of being corrupt during the election campaign joined the NPP-led coalition after trying to play hard to get.

Smaller parties like the PDF (People’s Development Front) who also were part of the coalition but had campaigned separately merged with the NPP. Amid all this political drama, the VPP stood firm in its opposition to all parties, accusing them of being corrupt and power-hungry.

A big reason for the success of the VPP has been in its leadership and the members they could draw from the local intelligentsia. Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, President of the party, has been a seasoned campaigner having already contested elections in the past. He also briefly served as the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the KHADC (Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council).

Known for being an advocate of clean politics, he was also the president of a powerful pressure group, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP). ‘Meghalaya’s Kejriwal’, one national publication called him. His relentless campaigning and oratory skills have helped to get the people drawn to the party.

Another attraction is the members, many of whom are lecturers and professors from local colleges and the central university of NEHU. This reputation established the party as a party of intellectuals.

However, the biggest factor which drew the party was the jaidbynriew politics which it espoused, which roughly translates to Khasi nationalism mixed with the feeling of victimhood.

It can be compared to Hindutva, which is rooted in Hindu nationalism and fosters a sense of victimhood, particularly directed against minorities, especially Muslims, despite Hindus being the majority in the country. Similar to their mainland counterpart, jaidbynriew politics draws on creating a narrative of us versus them (them, in this case, being the non-Khasis) narrative claiming to stand for the rights of the Khasis.

They came into the national limelight when they condemned the move by Phagu Chauhan, the Governor of the state, to give his inaugural address in Hindi and staged a walk-out from the Assembly.

This wasn’t the first time someone opposed using Hindi in the Assembly, but it was the first time someone walked out in protest. Chandrashekhar H. Vijayashankar soon replaced the governor, becoming Meghalaya’s 21st Governor; he has used only English since then.

That he’s from Karnataka also helps where language politics is also quite intense.

Not long after four of their candidates won the election, the VPP immediately set out to demand the review of the State Reservation Policy. The intention was to change the present 40:40 formula, which divided the reserved seats for jobs equally between Khasis and Garos. This was an old demand from the side of the Khasis who felt that they should get a higher share because they were larger in population than the Garos who were socio-economically more backward than them.

It was also part of the manifesto of other regional parties, like the UDP, who were accused of having gone back on their promise. Since the last two Chief Ministers of the state had come from the Garo community, Mukul Sangma had preceded the incumbent Conrad Sangma, VPP used the anti-Garo sentiment to galvanise the Khasi community in demanding a change in the state reservation policy.

When the government rejected the demand, the VPP president declared an indefinite hunger strike which drew enormous support from among the local Khasi population. The situation threatened to get out of hand considering the example of the ongoing Meitei-Kuki conflict, which began with a demand for ST status by the Meiteis. Under duress, the government had to agree to the constitution of an expert committee to examine the issue.

This was a major victory for the VPP, which further solidified its image as a protector of the Khasi community.

The 2024 parliamentary election was a watershed moment for VPP when its candidate, Ricky AJ Syngkon, won the election by defeating the three-time MP, Vincent Pala from Congress. However, just after the victory, there were also signs that everything was not well within the party.

Immediately after the election victory, news broke that the party had expelled three party members, one of them being Avner M Pariat, who had contested in the 2023 Legislative Assembly elections from the prestigious seat of Laitumkhrah.

He came in fourth among the contestants, losing the election, but many saw him as a future party leader. Before him, party leaders had sidelined another young leader, Mayborn Grace Lyngdoh, for ill-discipline. He had put up a good fight against the incumbent Minister Alexander Laloo Hek from Pynthorumkhrah.

While Mayborn had left quietly, Avner hit back against the party, revealing that he had already planned to leave the party before the parliamentary elections. He released the letter which he had submitted to the party in which he criticised the “party’s shift towards Religious Fanaticism … (and) a regressive agenda that he could no longer support in good conscience.” This did not come as much of a surprise since other political commentators had also labelled the party as the Khasi BJP because of its overt use of Christianity during its political campaigns.

Not long after, the party suffered another major setback when their MLA from North Shillong, Adelbert Nongrum, revolted against them for ignoring his input in selecting a candidate for the Autonomous District Council Elections from his constituency. Just a few days before the voting for the elections, Adelbert along with other disgruntled members, released an hour-an-half-long video in which he lambasted the leadership, especially Ardent, for his dictatorial style of functioning.

He also took potshots at Batskhem Myrboh, party spokesperson and an assistant professor from NEHU (North-Eastern Hill University) accusing him of violating the party’s constitution and engaging in favouritism. The party tried to deflect the criticism and ignored the call for talks, citing a lack of time because of election campaigning. Once the elections are over, the crisis threatens to resume.

The energetic leadership of Ardent is both a boon and a bane of the party. No one at the party can match him in terms of popularity. But he has also been known to be highly arrogant and dismissive of other people.

Many of those who had worked with him in the past have also brought out their dissatisfaction with his style of functioning including the incumbent CEM, Pyniaid Sing Syiem. Adept at the use of Khasi nationalism and Christianity for galvanising his supporters, Ardent has been a staunch advocate of protectionist measures which among others also include the introduction of Article 371 in Meghalaya which became an issue of intense debate in the run-up to the elections.

Only this, some argue, protects the customary laws and traditions of the Khasis from interference from the Union Government, especially the one led by the BJP. At the same time, he also opposed traditional institutions like the Durbar Shnong (village council) when they limited political rallies, opting instead for a shared discussion platform to prevent interference with students’ board exam preparations. In contradiction to the matrilineal traditions followed by the Khasi, Ardent has given his surname to his children and has repeatedly advocated for a change to patrilineal customs. Even in the run-up to the district council elections, he has talked about the issue during his public meetings.

Three times sitting MDC (Member of District Council) From Nongskhen Grace Mary Kharpuri, recalled during one of her rallies that they forced him to step down as the CEM in 2014 because he wanted to discuss the agenda for taking the father’s surname. To date, Ardent has not denied this charge raising suspicion that the allegation is indeed true. The Khasi community deeply reveres its matrilineal traditions, taking great pride in them, and many do not want any changes.

Additionally, whether under the Sixth Schedule or Article 371, shifting from a matrilineal to a patrilineal system would render special legislative provisions redundant, as they exist to protect customary norms and traditions. This is also another reason why the party is going to face challenges in the future.

Although people perceive the VPP as a party of intellectuals, discussions regarding reservation showed that they lacked an understanding of the issue’s legal aspects. Riding on populism, they did not do adequate research on the issue and now are in no position to retract. The expert committee has finished its hearing on the reservation, and will soon table its report.

Having personally deposed before the committee and engaged in discussions with its members, I believe it is likely that the recommendation will be to maintain the status quo, i.e., 40:40, albeit with some minor changes. Then the party will have to decide whether to approach the courts or reveal to the public that they had misrepresented the facts. Either way, unless there’s a constitutional amendment, something akin to what Rahul Gandhi had proposed (making reservations based on population), the party will have to answer to the public and hope it will forgive the deception.

The party’s reputation for creating chaos will make governing difficult if it wins a majority given that over 60% of District Council funds come from the state government, currently led by their rivals, the NPP. It has also alienated the other regional parties like the UDP who wanted to put a combined front for the elections, by acting haughty against them. This perception of being the only clean party may haunt the party if some future MDCs switch parties (the district councils lack an anti-defection law) or face corruption charges.

The unresolved issue of the rift with Adelbert could blow up after the elections if the party does not do as well as expected.

The rise of VPP and its probable success in the Autonomous District Council elections is coming at a very critical juncture. Riding on populism, they have promised a lot and picked up fights with not just their political opponents but also their party members. More dissent will likely appear in the future unless the leadership changes its approach.

The leadership which has been so instrumental in getting the party this far could also prove its weakness. But in case the party can somehow weather these storms, it would turn into a very formidable prospect in the next assembly election.

The journey from now till then, however, promises to be a very rocky one and everyone is on for one big, bumpy ride, which will change the political landscape, either for the better or for the worse.

Also Read: This Tangkhul Naga fashion designer is preserving history, one weave at a time
(The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organisation or institution)