Mamata Banerjee’s sojourn in Meghalaya has begun today. The West Bengal chief minister, along with her nephew and Trinamool Congress national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, reached Shillong yesterday
They will take part in cultural programmes and political activities.
But will her visit break the ice in the hilly state?
The NPP of Conrad Sangma is the ruling dispensation in Meghalaya, and BJP is part of the alliance. With Tripura giving TMC a major blow in the last by-election and Lok Sabha election as well, Banerjee is focusing largely on Meghalaya as she was able to break the Congress last year led by Mukul Sangma, former chief minister of Meghalaya.
But, this time, BJP is trying its luck to enter the power corridors of Shillong. Sources said that BJP is out to invite Vincent Pala, a Congress heavyweight and former Union minister.
Pala is an young leader and popular in East Jaintia belt of Meghalaya. He was a former MP but is known to be a wealthy man.
The politics of Meghalaya revolves around three different hills—Khashi, Garo and Jaintia. While Garo and Jaintia are similar, Khashi is different.
Conrad, son of legendary politician P.A. Sangma, broke the jinx last time by dismissing the political dominance of the Garo and Jaintia hills. The latter are surrounded by coal mines, where unauthorised mining is rampant.
If Pala joins BJP—as he refused to join TMC and Congress is a negligible force in Meghalaya—then he might turn the table, as BJP has two MLAs in the state, provided it continues alliance with Conrad’s party.
The question now is whether BJP can have control over a large part of the Christian belt?
Said a party’s senior leader, “Why not? If we could win 12 seats in Nagaland, then why not in Meghalaya?”
In Nagaland, which would also go to poll along with Meghalaya and Tripura next year, BJP has a huge base and is governing the state with Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party led by Meghalaya CM Neiphiu Rio.
Banerjee would be happy to woo the Christian community, with the Congress, too, snapping at her heels. BJP, too, is trying to expand its base, banking on the past few years of governance in the state. Also, it terms Conrad as “selfish” when it comes to allocating seats to BJP. So, the saffron party will have to contest on its own in all states with the help of independent candidates.
The state, thus, would see a three-corner fight and unlike in other northeast states, Banerjee would, for the first time, give other parties a run for their money as she has strong leaders in her kitty.