Shillong, Sept 23: Meghalaya woke up to a new political reality on Wednesday — eight UDP MLAs in BJP colours, a regional fortress in ruins, and a national party suddenly dreaming of Shillong’s throne in 2028.
UDP working President Paul Lyngdoh did not take long to break his silence, and when he did, he went straight for the jugular. Without naming party president Metbah Lyngdoh, he said what generations had built had disappeared into utter chaos in less than a year, falling victim to an individual with no clarity of vision. Paul revealed he had already warned the top leadership of a tectonic shift brewing inside the party that once held 12 MLAs, a third of Khasi-Jaintia Hills’ strength. No party can be written off, he said, leaving it to the wisdom of the people to judge how this could have happened, while admitting he is in constant touch with supporters and weighing different options.
On the other side of the aisle, BJP veteran AL Hek was all smiles welcoming the eight into the party fold, declaring that the positive development has put BJP firmly on the road to forming the government in 2028. And in a line that has set Shillong’s political circles abuzz, Hek claimed individual members from both NPP and TMC are already in touch with the BJP exploring the possibility of joining. Asked if he wants a cabinet berth in the new equation, Hek said he was not interested.
But as celebrations began in the BJP camp, a stinging moral counter came from church circles, calling the crossover a tragic betrayal of the electorate and a confirmation of obsessive lust for power and profitable self-gratification rather than any desire to advance the common good. When an individual joins a party there is nothing to say, the statement said, but when elected MLAs cross over from the party they were voted from, it betrays the mandate. It went on to accuse the BJP of supporting majoritarianism and maintaining supportive silences on ethnic violence in Manipur and hateful speeches and attacks by right-wing extremist groups against Christians and other minorities, warning that while rolling out economic and welfare schemes, the party promotes One Nation, One Language, One Religion and other strategies that threaten the diversities of indigenous and minority existence.
So, will the present MDA government fall before 2028? On paper, Conrad Sangma’s NPP-led alliance still holds the numbers and the BJP, now 10-strong from just 2, has little reason to pull the rug immediately. Toppling the government now would be self-defeating. The smarter game is to grow from within, dictate harder inside MDA, demand key portfolios and cabinet berths, and slowly choke NPP’s dominance in Khasi-Jaintia Hills where UDP once ruled. If Hek’s claim of NPP and TMC members knocking on BJP doors comes true, the MDA will not collapse with a bang but could be hollowed out from inside, setting up a direct NPP versus BJP showdown in 2028 where the saffron camp will no longer be a junior partner but the main challenger.
