August 17, 1998
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MEGHALAYA The Odd Couple Sworn enemies for years, the ruling UDP and the Congress tie the knot to form a government. By Avirook Sen
But it was obvious that the octogenarian Meghalaya chief minister felt he now needed a stable partner. For the past five months, Lyngdoh has had a stormy, polygamous "live in" arrangement with a handful of independent candidates, the BJP and the Hill States People's Democratic Party to make up a majority in the House. But domestic disputes prevailed and his disparate bedfellows constantly threatened to walk out on him. There were also constant quarrels over portfolios and transfer of officers. A desperate Lyngdoh eventually went down on his ageing knees -- and proposed to the Congress. In turn, the Congress showed uncharacteristic compassion: "What could we do when he was begging us for our hand?" says former Congress chief minister S.C. Marak. On July 27, Lyngdoh resigned in the morning, tied the knot with the Congress and in a simple ceremony, presided over by governor M.M. Jacob, was sworn in again by the evening -- along with his deputy chief minister, the Congress' D.D. Lapang. The partners apparently wasted no time in consummating the relationship and by August 3, a 26-member ministry was in place. However, the marriage was preceded by some stiff haggling. A formal pre-nuptial contract states:
The first term ends on November 16, 2000. Lyngdoh, who was born in the early part of this century, has thus tried to ensure that he rules Meghalaya till the beginning of the next. But will Lyngdoh himself last till then? And will the alliance last? "The couple has just got married, it is really too early to tell," says J.D. Rymbai of the Congress, recently sworn in as minister. But a number of hurdles have already cropped up: the distribution of portfolios on August 4 is all it took to start the coalition's first domestic dispute. Congress MLAs from the Garo hills were sulking. There's also the matter of CBI inquiries against some Congressmen. With some nine alleged scam cases -- most of them took place during the previous Congress regimes -- handed over to the CBI, the Congress may well have taken up Lyngdoh's offer to stall investigations. The key witness to the Meghalaya farce is the governor. Jacob has already held three receptions for three governments in the past six months. "I guess I'll just be patient and try out every possible combination to give this state stability. It may take a few more receptions," he says. Fortunately for the state, these are budgeted at about Rs 5,000 each. As wedding receptions go, that's pretty cheap. |
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It was a courtship that was conducted in great
secrecy. The two, who had so far made no effort to hide their mutual revulsion, suddenly
found themselves enamoured of each other. The hill state of Meghalaya has a new government
as a result of this very odd coupling. Sworn enemies, the United Democratic Party (UDP)
and the Congress, have conjugated to form the Meghalaya Parliamentary Forum (MPF), which
has a combined strength of 49 in a house of 60. T.H. Rangad of the BJP called it an
"elopement": Chief Minister B.B. Lyngdoh had dumped the party while forging the
new alliance. 
