Loss and gain!

Update: 2021-11-26 14:10 GMT

Going forward with its expansion spree, the TMC secured major gain in the Northeastern state of Meghalaya — with 12 out of the 17 Congress MLAs in the 60-member assembly crossing over to the TMC ship. The party now claims to be the principal Opposition in the state. This gain comes at the cost of the loss of the principal national Opposition party — the Congress. But the more critical thing to look forward to is how the equation involving loss and gain of the two parties will shape the larger picture of power in the state which will go to polls in 2023. Formed in 2012, the Meghalaya Pradesh Trinamool Congress has come a long way in the state to becoming the principal Opposition party. Riding on the massive victory in the West Bengal assembly elections, and then in the recent bye-elections, the TMC is showing no signs of stopping. It has proven its mettle in making a dent in the BJP's strong electoral presence across the country — something that the Congress has been persistently failing to do. For the TMC, Meghalaya may be just another state, where it eyes to make its mark. The party has attracted crucial defectors from the Congress in Tripura, Goa and Haryana. It can be said that the larger objective of TMC is to counter the growing influence of the BJP at a pan-India level. Having defeated the BJP in her stronghold Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC appears to hunt for political space in the BJP-ruled states. In doing so, as some fear, it is only diluting the fight against the BJP by dividing the anti-BJP votes. In states like Tripura, which is predominantly Bengali speaking, Mamata's political venture still holds some water, but how far is that applicable to the other regions, is a debatable question. Whatever may be the case, the party certainly is within its right to expand its base, and so is Mamata Banerjee to aspire to be leading at the national level. It would be a concrete strategy, however, to chalk out a well-defined plan with specific goals, rather than just being driven by personal and political vendetta. Another pertinent question is how big the loss is for the Congress? To see it in a larger perspective, the dilution of Congress in the entire Northeast region is as big a problem as it would have been in some of the western and southern states. The party appears to lose in Meghalaya yet another bastion, and the reasons are more internal than external. The Grand Old Party is letting itself be subdued in one after another instances. Defection by Mukul Sangma, along with some of his family members, is a serious development. Sangma is associated with the Garo tribes, one of the influential factions in Meghalaya, apart from Khasi and Jaintia. Losing a foothold among the tribal population could become a hard thing to be restored for the Congress. The Meghalaya setback is an utter leadership failure for the Congress, as in the first place, the party, despite emerging as the single largest party after the 2018 assembly polls, failed to form the government. And now it faces a downgrade from being the principal Opposition. This story is not strange for the party. The Congress has stumbled on similar lines in the past in states like Manipur where it had failed to form government for just being a couple of seats short from the majority mark. It only reflects the failure of the leadership at Central level which, despite its effort to strike a cordial note with the rebel factions, could not prove effective. Mukul Sangma has perhaps alleged that he could not elicit desired response despite his repeated outreach to the leadership in Delhi. Such a laxative approach by the principal opposition Party will not just weaken the party, but democracy as well. It should come as no surprise then, that regional parties are taking the charge of affairs in their own hands. In Meghalaya, amid the transaction between the Congress and the TMC, it is the silent observer, the BJP, which must be sensing better prospects for itself. It is part of the ruling NDA coalition in the state, and the divided opposition could somewhat favor it. The moot question remains whether the TMC, as a replacement of Congress, could stand as fierce against the BJP as it did in Bengal? Furthermore, if the TMC is to make its mark on national politics, how long will it take, and at what cost will it come? The answers to these questions will depend upon how meticulous or bizarre the planning is. For the case of the Congress, it needs to be admitted that to retain its influence, the party will have to come out sharper and bolder. It cannot rest its stakes at the decisions and actions of other parties.

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