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Eastern Panorama conducted an opinion poll in the state of Meghalaya to understand the mood of the people as the state is going to elections in the month of February 2018. The election is quite interesting this time as BJP is a strong contender with high probability of getting maximum seats. The methodology adopted was quite simple. We have taken a sample of 727 persons and the same was conducted in Shillong/Jowai/Tura/Nongpoh only. The survey was conducted in the last week of October and the first week of November. The major findings of this survey are as under.

* Congress is down and out even though over 52% people are satisfied with the work of Dr.Mukul Sangma. Only 17.88% people felt that Congress will be back in power and part wise analysis shows that only 22% people felt that congress will make it in 2018.

* BJP which has no presence in the region is gaining momentum as 37% of the people felt that BJP will form the Government in the state of Meghalaya which is a Christian dominated state whereas 29% people felt that it will be a coalition Government.
 
* The survey had 53% male respondents whereas female were 43% and others did not mention their gender.
* The youth population below the age of 30 responded actively with 34%.
* It is absolutely clear that Congress is facing antiincumbency.
* Politicians in Meghalaya are by large not trustworthy. 36% people felt that 50% politicians are trustworthy.
* People by large are active and take part in the election process and rallies. 35% attended the election rallies held before the elections; contrary to this people are not much keen to take part in protest rallies. It is only 13% of the population who took part in the election protest.
* 49.82% of the respondent gave only 4 marks to Dr.Mukul Sangma performance on a scale of 1-10 whereas 12.65% respondent did not fill up the column. Again, contrary to this result 41% people still feel that Dr.Mukul Sangma is a most suited candidate for the post of Chief Minister followed by Mr. Conrad Sangma who got 10.17% respondent. There are around 27% of respondent who feel that none of the candidate listed in the opinion poll are suited for the post of the Chief Minister.
* The activities of the political parties reflect that over 50% of the respondents were individually approached for their support.
* However after the elections are over it is only sometimes that the elected representatives are available the voters.
* It was also clear that majority of the voters take decisions on the day of the elections.
* People by large are suffering from traffic congestion and wants this solved by the new Government. A big chunk of the people responded that the ban of coal mining must be lifted and Shillong medical college be started.
* It may be noted that Meghalaya Legislative Assembly has 60 MLAs. During the last Assembly election in 2008, 36 were crorepatis. The three top MLAs in terms of declared assets in decreasing orders are Ngaitlang Dhar of Congress from Umroi (ST) constituency, who has declared assets worth a whopping Rs235.64 crore, followed by Metbah Lyngdoh of United Democratic Party from Mairang (ST) constituency with Rs 37.29 crore and Comingone Ymbon of Congress from Raliang (ST) constituency with assets worth Rs 25.48 crore.
The survey was conducted by Eastern Panorama team;Manav Dey, Nisha Sethia, Donboklang Wanniang, Sanchita Dutta and Rashmi Mizar.

The full details are as follows:-

One of the star players in the election playfield at Nongkrem, Ardent Basiawmoit, foresees that the Hill State Democratic Party (HSPDP) alliance with the United Democratic Party (UDP), both regional parties, would form the next government in 2018. The main thrust of this alliance is to keep at bay national parties such as Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others to come to power. On the other hand however both HSPDP and UDP are mainly concentrated only in Shillong and Jowai sector. Both these regional parties have made no effort to penetrate into Achickland Garo Hills, where they have no locus standi. This is certainly one of the main drawbacks of the HSPDP-UPD alliance to cover 24 seats located in Garo sector, which is specially the domain of the congress and the NPP. It therefore seems that the HSPDP-UDP alliance has already missed the bus to Tura.

 

With the frequent power cuts which annoy people in the state capital Shillong, candle light has come but as a savior as an alternative to electricity. Incidentally the newly formed Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) had been allotted ‘candles’ as its election symbol which is considered as a light of hope. Inspired by this coincidence during Diwali, the festival of lights, the PDF has decided to put up candidates in all 36 constituencies in the Khasi-Jaintia region and also in all 24 seats in the Garo Hills. Candle lights again played its role in the black day observance of the congress against the first anniversary of demonetization as congress workers organized a candle light vigil at Khyndailad in memory of those people who died because of the ban of 500 and 1000 rupee notes across the country. Leading the protest the state Congress spokesperson and Deputy Chief Minister, Roytre Laloo questioned “What black Money do tribals have”.

The decision of the Meghalaya High Court in disqualification of Legislators holding the Post of Parliamentary Secretaries has created more confusion. In the present political scenario Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has accepted the resignation letter of all the seventeen parliamentary secretaries. The court has however left the matter open for determination by the governor, If raised in acceptance of the law. This is considered as a blow and set back to the ruling congress. The opposition was also up in arms against the act which has equated the rank of a parliamentary secretary to that of a minister.

 

Most of the legislators would favour joining the NPP. Mandal Sumer who had championed the cause for disqualification also urged the Governor for the dismissal of the Meghalaya United Alliance government led by the Chief Minister. The situation will be more complex when the Legislative Assembly sits for the winter session when the last scene would be performed and curtains would be finally drawn.

EP Desk

To read the further article please get your copy of Eastern Panorama March issue @http://www.magzter.com/IN/Hill-Publications/Eastern-Panorama/News/ or mail to contact @easternpanorama.in