Guwahati: The United Democratic Party (UDP), a regional political outfit that claims to identify with ‘Meghalaya Nationalism’, is becoming a go-to place for party-hoppers in this hilly state that will go to the polls on 27 February.
Earlier this month, five sitting MLAs resigned from their parties to join the UDP, including minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar of the HSPDP, Shitlang Pale of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Mayralborn Syiem and PT Sawkmie of the Congress, and Independent MLA Lambor Malngiang. With Syiem and Sawkmie resigning from the Congress to join UDP, the strength of the Congress legislative party in Meghalaya has been reduced to zero.
Congress had emerged as the single-largest party with 21 seats in the 2018 assembly polls. Congress MLAs, who were suspended by the party for their decision to support the state’s coalition government, continued in the party until resigning recently to join others.
The UDP, which the defecting MLAs have joined, bagged merely six seats in that election.
The UDP is part of Conrad Sangma-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government which also includes his National People’s Party (NPP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF).
The ruling MDA has 20 NPP MLAs, two BJP legislators, nine UDP MLAs including Speaker, and two PDF MLAs. With AITC’s eight in the opposition, there are 41 members in the assembly. In 2018, the BJP — which barely found a foothold in the state — had contested 47 of 60 seats, and won two. While others continue to be part of the government, the alliance has come unstuck, with all constituents contesting the coming elections separately.
Importantly, the UDP is the second-largest constituent of the coalition government in Meghalaya, headed by the NPP which earned the national party status in 2019. The NPP is also a member of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
As many as 19 MLAs in Meghalaya have quit their parties since November 2021 with Congress MLAs topping the list. After three of its 21 MLAs passed away and another joined the NPP, the remaining17 MLAs deserted the party. It started in November 2021 when 12 of them, led by former chief minister Mukul Sangma, “merged” with the TMC, making the Mamata Banerjee-led party the principal Opposition in the state almost overnight.
With the entry of the Congress’s dozen, TMC could finally make inroads into the Christian-majority state. In due course, however, four resigned from the TMC to join other parties. Few others, including the NPP, also lost their MLAs to other parties, including the BJP.
Meanwhile, the lone Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly, Salen Sangma, joined the Congress party last week.
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What’s behind the UDP pull
Political analyst Professor Prasenjit Biswas of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) told ThePrint that the ground reality suggests a kind of “mutually cancelling contest among Congress, TMC and NPP, but it does not suggest that the UDP could be dominating the scene”.
“The UDP sees that they have a block vote in terms of their vote base in the last election, and because of the party’s affinity to a certain kind of Khasi nationalism, it can retain a certain vote bank against the sway of the other parties. Factors such as UDP’s demand for Inner Line Permit (ILP) among other demands pertaining to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, and expansion of the rights of autonomy of the district councils, have led to the idea that its vote bank is intact. But that’s an impression created by the UDP itself, which might not entirely be true,” he said.
Another reason for legislators to join UDP could be its image as that of a “locally rooted party”, said Biswas. “Some of the turncoat politicians have lost their own support base and now depend on that of the UDP. They have turned to the UDP as the last resort.”
On the other hand, UDP vice president Allantry F. Dkhar told ThePrint that attraction for the party lies in the fact it traces its roots to the Hills State Movement — a matter of pride for the people of Meghalaya, especially as the state crossed its 50-year-mark last year.
“Fifty years from now, let us start a new beginning. Let us shun the national political forces and build on our strength, our own genius. Our caption goes: UDP — of Meghalaya, by Meghalaya, for Meghalaya,” said Allantry, adding that the party has maintained a “clean record” throughout.
“We have a very good track record, being part of several governments in coalition. We have rarely been tainted, unlike the other parties. We can deliver, if we have the numbers, a better government than any of these national parties,” he asserted.
In October last year, the Congress had accused the UDP of making money from the illegal sale of drugs, coal, liquor and land in Meghalaya.
‘Roots entrenched in Hills State Movement’
The UDP is an offshoot of the All Party Hill Leaders’ Conference (APHLC), the main protagonist of the Hills State movement since the formation of the party on 6 July 1960. The cause was to fight for a separate state out of the then undivided Assam province.
Under reverberating slogans of ‘No Hill State, No Rest’ in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and Garo hills, Meghalaya was finally carved out of Assam as an autonomous state in 1970 and became a full-fledged state on 21 January 1972. The APHLC was in power for almost 6-7 years, with four of its members going on to become chief ministers of the state.
After the APHLC was disbanded in 1984 for the purpose of unifying regional political forces, several like-minded parties got together to form the Hill People’s Union (HPU). Later, in September 1997, three regional parties — HSPDP under the presidency of Late E.K. Mawlong, the HPU, and the Public Demand Implementation Convention — together formed the UDP. It became the largest regional party in the state and hoped to achieve better electoral results on account of its plank of regional unity.
But the party’s political fortunes have since fluctuated in assembly elections.
It contested its first assembly polls in February 1998, and bagged 20 seats but its strength was reduced to nine seats in 2003. It increased its strength to 11 seats in the eighth assembly elections in 2008, but came down to eight in 2013. It then took on the role of Opposition in the state legislature.
The UDP remained in power for a short duration in a number of coalition governments, but had undoubtedly played its part in contributing towards the development of the state, asserted Allantry.
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UDP-backed issues in Meghalaya
The party leadership said it was the UDP-led government of 1998 that took up the vexed issues of the interstate border dispute, the municipal sweepers’ residential quarters and focus on farmers.
“With his Assam counterpart Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, E.K. Mawlong struck an agreement for the return of Khasi- and Jaintia-inhabited villages in Block I and II to Meghalaya in December 2000. The government also declared the year of the farmers during its tenure,” Allantry said.
However, Mawlong’s tenure was short-lived. He had to step down in 2001 following a controversy after his government was accused of entering into a questionable deal to rebuild the Meghalaya House in Kolkata.
In 2008, Dr Donkupar Roy was named the chief minister when UDP was part of the ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance along with the NCP, but his tenure was equally short-lived.
On why the UDP could manage only six seats in 2018 assembly elections, Allantry said it was unexpected. “In 2018, we were of the perception that since we remained true to our principles and stayed in the Opposition for five years, the people will reward us for that.
“There are other factors at play, money being a major part of it. It diluted all the principles, and we could get only six seats. Later that year, we managed to get two more through by-elections in Ranikor and Mawphlang.”
‘Meghalaya, not Khasi nationalism’
Against allegations of trying to bring out the Khasi-Garo divide through politics, the UDP leadership said the party believes in deepening regional ethnic integration in the state, finding out common elements, identities and ways of thinking to unite people in Meghalaya.
Allantry said it was former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma who gave the party a “Khasi tag” when it was enjoying a strong base in the Garo Hills. The party does not stand for Khasi, but Meghalaya nationalism, he said.
“UDP is based on Meghalaya nationalism, not just Khasi. The founding president of APHLC was none other than Captain Williamson Ampang Sangma, a Garo leader and also a former chief minister of Meghalaya. The president of HPU was Mody Marak, another Garo leader.
“The Khasi tag was given to us by none other than Late P.A. Sangma who, after breaking away from the Congress, wanted to usurp the space that the UDP had captured, and told people we are a ‘Khasi party’,” Allantry added.
“We have capable candidates this time such as John Leslee from South Tura, and Dr Pilne A. Sangma from North Tura,” he added.
The UDP has fielded 14 candidates from Garo Hills, and the list is likely to increase.
Party-centric or personality-oriented?
In the current system, political analysts feel that personalities have come to matter as much as ideologies and manifestos, for which candidate selection is a crucial step for political parties.
Allantry feels that his party has an edge over others because some of their strongest leaders, including UDP working president and former MLA Paul Lyngdoh, have roots in student politics, affecting impact on campaigns pertaining to state issues.
UDP general secretary Dr Jemino Mawthoh has been a social leader right from his student days, while Titosstarwell Chyne, UDP East Khasi Hills district president, was also involved in student politics.
“Voting is more campaign-based. Issues of campaign being slightly distorted as certain things are spoken against or in favour of certain groups. This is how politicians have dealt with situations, according to their wisdom. These campaigns are generated through various factors such as pressure group politics in Meghalaya. Some UDP members have a background in student politics and they are able to take part in the campaign in a subtler way than other political forces,” said Biswas.
Biswas added that campaigning is increasingly becoming a kind of “micro-political management” and one who can manage the support base is best suited to it.
“In the electoral context, it is personality-based. One who can fund it, mobilise it, and show prospects of a brighter future. That’s how politics revolves here,” said Biswas.
Allantry agreed, but said he believed his party’s influence is surging again.
“Over the years, party politics in the Northeast has taken a backseat and become more candidate-centric. Party influence has kind of faded, but with the coming elections, it’s growing back again. It has come full circle. We intend to make the party more appealing so that the right candidates can be chosen by the voters,” he adds.
This time around, the UDP wants to focus on rural development. According to Allantry, “We believe that since 79.25 per cent of our population resides in rural areas, if that percentage could be developed, Meghalaya is as good as developed.”
The UDP has not entered into a pre-poll alliance with any party, hoping to fight alone and win more than 30 seats. The party is trying to field candidates from all the 60 seats, having already announced the names of 34. It will soon release a third list of candidates. The five sitting MLAs (who joined the party last week) have already been included in the two lists.
“We are working towards leading the government, and if they make us the kingmaker, we will be happy with that too,” said Allantry.
NPP MLA from Williamnagar and party spokesperson Marcuise Marak, however, said they will achieve full majority. “This time, we are fighting on our own, hoping to get simple majority. We have fielded candidates in 57 constituencies. In Garo hills, the UDP will not get a single seat,” he said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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