A Fractured Mandate

An Impulsive Government

- Sumar Sing Sawian

Meghalaya had always witnessed a fractured mandate and formation of coalition governments, except in the initial years of state formation, when the All Party Hills Leaders Conference (APHLC), which spear-head the separate Hill State Legislative Assembly, for almost three term. With the fragmentation APHLC and the emergence of Regional Parties of the era of single majority party in the state came to an end, becoming only a history. This time, in the 2018 elections, history repeated itself as no single party secured an absolute majority to obtain the magic figure of 30 in the sixty member’s house. Though there was no pre-poll alliance, there was a spur of the moment urgency for non-congress parties, to club together without any preconditions except a unanimous on the spot decision, that Conrad Sangma, National President of the National People’s Party would head the new Government known as the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA).