Smaller regional parties of Meghalaya, who often play a crucial role in elections, have done it again winning almost one-third of the total seats in the northeastern state.
The polling for 59 of the 60 seats in the state had taken place on February 27—voting was cancelled in one seat following death of a candidate- and four of the state’s regional players managed to win 19 seats.
The biggest winner among them was the United Democratic Party (UDP), which won 11 of the 46 seats it had contested and gained over 16% of the total votes. Its tally was almost double than what it got in 2018 when the party had won six seats and was a crucial part of the National People’s Party-led government in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was also a partner.
The other significant regional player is the newly formed Voice of People Party (VPP), which raised issues like clean politics and corruption-free government. The party contested from 18 seats and won four of them.
The VPP is headed by Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, who has been a part of regional parties in Meghalaya. The 50-year-old won his first election from Nongkrem in 2008 on a UDP ticket and won again in 2013 on a Hill State Peoples’ Democratic Party (HSPDP) ticket.
In 2018, he lost the same seat by 76 votes as a HSPDP candidate. This time, however, he was able to regain the seat beating UDP’s Lambor Malngiang by 4,187 votes.
“We formed the VPP because of failure of all existing regional parties. In last election, the UDP and the HSPDP had an alliance on basis of providing a government comprising regional parties minus the Congress and the BJP. But eventually, the BJP became part of the National Peoples’ Party (NPP)-led government. That’s why I quit the HSPDP and formed VPP,” said Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit.
The HSPDP and the Peoples’ Democratic Front (PDF) won two seats each. Another new party, KAM Meghalaya, which had fielded three candidates, failed to win any seat.
“Smaller parties have been key players in Meghalaya as no bigger party, either regional or national, has presence in all parts of the state and across all communities,” said H Srikanth, professor of political science in Shilliong-based North Eastern Hill University (NEHU).
“Parties like the VPP and the KAM Meghalaya are a welcome trend as they are focusing on issues different from other older players. It’s a good thing for Meghalaya as educated and socially conscious people are joining politics,” he added.
