D D Lapang quits Congress after 40 years, but that's no way to say goodbye

Lapang's background is somewhat similar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's

The venerable D D Lapang, a Congressman for 40 years and Chief Minister of Meghalaya four times, has left the party. What’s surprising is not that he has quit the Congress but the way he has done it.

A few years ago, the veteran, now 84, had confessed that he was under pressure from loved ones to retire because his health no longer permitted the intensive engagement that politics demands. 

But after that he fought another election, loath to give up the unique place he has carved out for himself in the politics of Meghalaya — he has lost only one assembly election and represented his constituency Nongpoh almost uninterruptedly since 1972. What tipped the balance, however, is extensive speculation that the party was planning a reshuffle in its state set-up ahead of the Lok Sabha election. His resignation letter accuses Congress President Rahul Gandhi of sidelining senior leaders whose “service and contribution” were “no longer useful to the party”. Much the same story as S M Krishna in Karnataka.

However, this is somewhat specious. The fact is new leaders are emerging in Meghalaya politics and the Congress doesn’t want to be caught napping.

What is politics in Meghalaya about? The principal rivalry is between the Khasi and the Garo tribes, with those from the Lushai hills coming in the way. The first is represented by Lapang, the second by the Sangmas (of whom there are many and about whom more later) and the third by P R Kyndiah till he died in 2015.

The tension between these three regions constitutes the politics in the state. But Meghalaya is also one of the most interesting northeastern states because of the nature of its ruling class. A research by the Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms reveals that out of a total 370 candidates who contested the 2018  Meghalaya assembly elections, only 4 per cent filed income tax returns; 41 per cent candidates reported they had assets of Rs 10 million or above. And just by way of illustration, Ngaitlang Dhar contested as a Congress candidate in 2013 and reported movable assets worth Rs 250 million. In 2018, he contested from the National People’s Party (NPP) and his movable assets amounted to Rs 720 million.

The most famous Meghalaya politician would have to be Purno Sangma, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, who was with the Congress until he, along with Sharad Pawar, formed the Nationalist Congress Party. Sangma later parted ways from Pawar to float the NPP. Before he died in 2016, Sangma had launched his two sons, Conrad and James, 40 and 42, respectively, and daughter Agatha, 38, in politics. Fellow Garo Mukul Sangma, who filled the gap left in the Congress by Purno Sangma’s exit is just 53-year-old. He resigned from chief ministership ahead of the state poll earlier this year.

In 2018, the NPP won 19 seats in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly. Conrad fashioned an alliance of other smaller parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party (two MLAs). The alliance is in power now, but party loyalties in Meghalaya are ephemeral and crossing the floor takes no effort at all. Little wonder that Lapang feels out of place. 

Lapang’s own background is somewhat similar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s: His mother was a tea seller in Meghalaya’s Ri Bhoi district and his father a tailor, who died when Lapang was young. He was the eldest son and he took the responsibility of his family, helping his mother and working as a road labourer until he came into contact with a priest, Rev S Mallai, who urged his mother to send him to school in nearby Umroi. Lapang finished his education, got a government job as a typist in the Assam Secretariat and became politically active. When Meghalaya was carved out of Assam, he made Nongpoh his political base.

With quitting the Congress, Lapang has created a space in the party and the region. How the Congress and the Sangma clan will fill this space remains to be seen.