Meghalaya gets new government

When D D Lapang took the Chief Minister's oath of office and secrecy in the presence of Governor R S Mooshahary, he became the head of the 21st government Meghalaya has witnessed in 37 years of statehood. In the last 37 years, the State's chief ministership has rotated between ten political leaders, with only two of them, late Captain W A Sangma and Congress leader S C Marak, being able to complete the full five year term. Never in the history of Meghalaya, except during the first Assembly elections, has any political party obtained clear majority. However, ending the nearly two-month-old President's rule in the State, DD Lapang was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA) Government along with six ministers.

Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Lapang and his ministers at a simple swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan shortly after President's rule was officially lifted from the State.

The Governor has given Mr Lapang 15 days time to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly.

Congress heavyweight Dr Mukul Sangma retained Deputy Chief Minister's portfolio, while two other Congressmen -- Prof R C Laloo and Martin M Danggo -- were also inducted in the Cabinet.

Senior UDP legislator JA Lyngdoh, one of the key players in the formation of Congress-UDP coalition government, was also sworn-in. Mr Lyngdoh was a Cabinet Minister in the erstwhile MPA government.

Independent MLA Abu Taher Mondal and former UDP MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh, who quit the Assembly and joined the Congress, were also rewarded with ministerial berths for their ''unstinted support'' to Congress.

This is for the first time in the State's political history a non-MLA was sworn in as minister. As per rules, Ms Lyngdoh will have to get elected to the House within six months.

Before the swearing-in ceremony, the Governor read out the official proclamation issued by President Pratibha Patil lifting the Central rule from Meghalaya.

The ceremony was also attended by Union Tribal Affairs Minister PR Kyndiah, State Congress president Friday Lyngdoh, AICC leader Luizinho Faleiro, Assam's Health Minister Himantabiswa Sarma, UDP president and former Chief Minister Dr Donkupar Roy and NCP legislators - James K Sangma and Adolf Lu Hitler Marak.

Another batch of ministers is expected to be sworn in soon. Sources said that it would include KHNAM legislator Paul Lyngdoh,

Limison Sangma, Ismail Marak and Donkupar Massar, while Assembly Speaker Bindo M Lanong (UDP) will be inducted as Deputy Chief Minister after a new Speaker is elected by the House.

Meanwhile, doubts are being expressed regarding the stability of the new government in view of uncertain political scenario at the national level. It is felt that neither Congress nor any other major political party will be able to form government at the Centre without the help of the smaller parties.

Political observers feel that the continuance of the present Congress-UDP alliance in the State will depend much on the role of NCP in the event that the Congress-led UPA fails to garner enough numbers to form government at the Centre.

Mr Lapang, who has been sworn in for the fifth time, did so from March 10, 2008 to March 19, 2008.

Interestingly, the State has never witnessed a mid-term poll despite the frequent change of governments.

While the toppling game was a hallmark till the early 1990s when the Anti-Defection Law did not exist, the highly fragile political situation in the State could be gauged with the state having witnessed nine governments with varied combinations of political parties during the last decade.

After the March 2008 Assembly elections, Mr Lapang was sworn-in as chief minister of a Congress-led coalition government, but resigned 10 days later, just before a trust vote, after failing to muster a majority.

Subsequently, the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government, comprising five political parties including NCP, headed by United Democratic Party (UDP) president Donkupar Roy assumed charge.

The Congress has not been an untouchable to the varied smaller parties in the state as almost all of them, many of which are defunct now, had a stint in the government along with the Congress.

Now, with the Congress tying up with the UDP after failure of negotiations with the NCP, to form the government, it remains to be seen how long the new alliance remains intact.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister DD Lapang has said any change in political equations at the Centre after the Lok Sabha election results will have no impact in the State as "both Congress and UDP have signed an agreement whereby both parties will not betray each other till the end of the present term."

Mr Lapang said, "This alliance will continue despite any political change in the country. Whatever takes place at the national level will not have any bearing on our alliance in the State".

Further, the new Chief Minister said that his government would lay emphasis on solving unemployment problem through development of major sectors like tourism, industry and power.

"The major problem that afflicts the State today is unemployment which if not addressed may create various other social problems. We will see that this problem is properly addressed," Mr Lapang said.

Another major announcement by the new Chief Minister was revision of salary of the State government employees through implementation of the Pay Commission report.

While expressing concern over the huge liability in the PWD (Roads) amounting to Rs 300 crore which had led to de-sanctioning of road repair and construction work amounting to around Rs 100 crore by the previous MPA Government, Mr Lapang said he would take steps to ensure that the problem was solved and contractors' bills were cleared.

On the issue of power deals, Mr Lapang said his government would see that the agreements signed on various major hydro power projects were implemented and that loopholes in the agreements were plugged.

The newly-formed Cabinet also met later in the day to discuss the programmes and policies of the government.

However, no major decision was taken in the meeting.

‘Our options are still open’
 Not happy with the developments, NCP legislator James K Sangma has said that his party will wait for the outcome of Lok Sabha elections before taking any initiative to restart the process of forming the government in the State.

Speaking after a meeting of all NCP legislators convened by party leader Purno A Sangma, Mr Sangma informed that his brother Conrad K Sangma was elected as the new NCP legislature party leader while Adolf L Hitler Marak would be the party's Chief Whip in the Assembly.

"Our options are still open," Mr Sangma said.

While expressing his party's happiness with the installation of popular government in the State, Mr Sangma said NCP was upset with the failure of Congress to intimate his party regarding the status of the talks held between the two parties for formation of an alliance in the State.

"It was Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who initiated the process and invited Purno A Sangma for a discussion on formation of Congress-NCP alliance in the State. However, the Congress leaders did not intimate anything to us on the status of the matter but suddenly opted to go for an alliance with UDP," Mr Sangma said.

While denying that his party had made any "unreasonable" demand to the Congress during the negotiations, Mr Sangma said he did not expect that the situation could culminate in a different manner. He, however, said that his party was ready to perform the role of a responsible Opposition in the Assembly.

Mr Sangma said NCP's various state unit presidents of all the Northeastern states had sent their representations to the party president Sharad Pawar not to align with Congress for formation of government at the Centre.

Meanwhile, NCP's Meghalaya unit president WR Kharlukhi said, "the decision to work with Congress, which 'betrayed' it by aligning with the UDP in Meghalaya, was made at the level of Prime Minister.

"As loyal followers of the party, we agreed to abide by the decision by parting ways with our most trusted allies (MPA partners) in the State", Mr Kharlukhi said.

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