A new government is formed in Meghalaya following the collapse of the E.K. Mawlong Ministry, which was accused of entering into a shady deal to rebuild the Meghalaya House in Kolkata.
THE government in the tiny northeastern State of Meghalaya changed for the sixth time since the February elections following the collapse of the United Democratic Party (UDP) coalition headed by E.K. Mawlong. After month-long political turmoil, the People's Forum of Meghalaya (PFM) formed the government on December 7 with Dr. Flinder Anderson Khonglam as Chief Minister, after it managed to garner the support of 43 of the 60 Members of the Legislative Assembly. The PFM is a combination of defectors from Mawlong's UDP, the Congress(I), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP), the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) and an independent. It is apparent that Khonglam, although an independent MLA, has been chosen Chief Minister to avoid any bickerings over the chief ministership among the PFM's constituents. Three BJP MLAs have offered to support the new government from the outside.
Although his government was reduced to a minority, Mawlong refused to step down; he challenged the Opposition to defeat him on the floor of the Assembly. However, the Assembly could not be called as Governor M.M. Jacob took ill and was taken to Delhi. The secretary of the NCP and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, P.A. Sangma, who put together the PFM, went to Delhi to convince Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani that the political stalemate in the State could only be resolved if a substitute was arranged for Governor Jacob. Arunachal Pradesh Governor Arvind Dave, who was sent to Meghalaya as acting Governor, promptly convened the Assembly.
On the first day of the session, Congress(I) legislator and PFM secretary R.G. Lyngdoh moved a no-confidence motion against the Mawlong Ministry, saying that he had no right to continue in power as he was left with only 13 legislators. Speaker E.D. Marak introduced the motion immediately. This made Mawlong loyalists accuse the Speaker of playing a partisan role.
Pandemonium broke out as Mawlong's supporters rushed to the well of the House demanding that a 24-hour notice be issued for the introduction of the motion, as required under Rule 133 (2A). However, the Speaker decided to go ahead with the motion. Mawlong was moved by means of a voice vote. Only 14 legislators (13 loyalists and the lone Garo National Council (GNC) MLA, Clifford R. Marak) supported Mawlong.
Thereafter, PFM leaders met Dave and staked their claim to form the government. Khonglam submitted a list of 43 MLAs supporting him. Soon after the Mawlong Ministry was voted out, Donkupar Roy, Health Minister in the outgoing Ministry, moved a resolution for the removal of Speaker Marak. The Assembly admitted the motion.
Mobilising strength to overthrow the Mawlong Ministry was not an easy job for Sangma. At one stage, even his own partymen were in two minds about going along with his plans. The NCP had 15 MLAs in the UDP coalition. Even as its State unit president Robert Kharsing, at the suggestion of Sangma, handed over a letter to Governor Jacob on November 15 stating that the party had decided to withdraw support to the Mawlong Ministry, NCP Ministers and MLAs, barring two legislators, attended a meeting convened by Mawlong in his chamber and pledged support to him. In order to prevent defections, Mawlong, without the consent of the allies or the Cabinet members, promoted two NCP Ministers to Cabinet rank and inducted two NCP legislators into the Ministry.
Alarmed at these developments, Sangma went to Shillong from Delhi with a message to party MLAs that the high command was firm in its decision to withdraw support to Mawlong. "We have set a deadline for the NCP Ministers to resign. Those who abide by it and resign will remain in the party, and disciplinary action will be initiated against those who disobey," he said. The strong stand taken by the NCP central leadership forced the legislators to retract and join the rebellion move against Mawlong.
The two-tier Khonglam Ministry has 37 members, including 28 of Cabinet rank, and is the largest in the history of Meghalaya. Most of them held ministerial posts in the Mawlong government. Former Congress(I) Chief Minister D.D. Lapang has been made Deputy Chief Minister. There are 13 Ministers, one each from the NCP and the Congress(I), seven from the Meghalaya United Democratic Party (MUDP), two from the HSPDP and one from the PDP, besides an independent. Sangma said that the Ministry was big because various groups had been represented.
The new government cites fighting corruption as its main objective. But it has at least one member who has come under a cloud in connection with the deal relating to the Meghalaya House in Kolkata, which triggered the revolt against the Mawlong government. The deal, struck by the Mawlong government with a construction company, was allegedly not in the best interests of the State and suited only a few individuals, including Ministers and officials. It led to a public outcry, and constituents of the Mawlong Ministry, including the BJP and the NCP, withdrew support to the government. Mawlong's UDP also split over the issue. The deal allegedly did not have the Cabinet's approval.
An agreement was signed between the government and the construction company to rebuild Meghalaya House after demolishing the old structure on Russell Street. However, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) stopped the demolition on October 1 after it was found that the building was on the KMC's list of 'heritage' structures. The Meghalaya government was reportedly not aware of this fact. But it could not come up with appropriate answers when accusations of entering into a shady deal were hurled against it. Although Power Minister Martle Mukhim resigned over the issue, the UDP failed to convince one of its constituents, the NCP. The NCP demanded a judicial probe and action against the architects of the deal, including the Minister for General Administration and the Chief Secretary and others. Meanwhile, the People's Rally Against Corruption, a conglomeration of several non-governmental organisations in Meghalaya, organised picketing of government offices in early November demanding the resignation of Mawlong "for his complicity in the murky deal".
