Tura, June 8: Was it voter fatigue against the NPP, fear of the rising right wing politics in the country, targeting of minority communities by saffron led groups claiming allegiance to the ruling dispensation in New Delhi, rising cost of living or the Manipur violence?

Many questions remain unanswered as the dust settles down on the 2024 elections that threw up a surprise for many across the country- including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been literally stripped of his majority and now depends on support from alliance partners to run the government.

Back home, a similar scenario has unfolded in the Garo Hills where the Congress proved all political pundits wrong in the outcome of the election results on June 4th when its candidate romped home with a landslide of 1.55 lakh margin of victory against three time MP Agatha K Sangma of the NPP.

It was unexpected- both for the Congress and the NPP.

For the congress it is the first victory in well over 20 long years, after P A Sangma parted ways with the grand old party.

For the NPP they are without a central representative in the peoples’ house for the first time since the party was formed.

And for Late Sangma’s family, this was never the case for 47 long years, until today.

What was the unexpected turn that led to the unfolding of this surprise changes to the political history in Garo Hills.

Just one year ago, the NPP swept the state assembly polls and took home the largest number of assembly seats from Garo Hills- 18 out of 24.

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s multiple programs like Focus and Focus + aimed at uplifting the rural economy, and particularly the youth centric CM Elevate and PRIME HUB programs to provide the necessary platform and funding for start-ups and entrepreneurs was seen by many to be a resounding success in the Garo Hills- as evident from the outcome of the 2023 election results.

To be shunted out by angry voters in under a year was something seldom witnessed in politics, particularly when the going had so far been good.

So why didn’t it work in this election? After all, the chief minister had been seen as someone who delivered on his promises.

Everywhere we went during the election coverage we met up with people and asked how they rated the performance of chief minister Conrad Sangma. There was seldom a rejection- at best annoyance over delay in the implementation of some of his pet projects aimed at elevating poverty and boosting the rural economy.

When the chief minister faced little dissent when it came to his performance as head of the state, why was there a sudden 180 degree turn in peoples’ opinion?

The answer from the people to this query, in most cases, turned to the colour Saffron.

Conrad Sangma knew the political workings in Delhi and the role of small states, including Meghalaya, where governments in the Northeast had to heavily depend on the Centre for funding programs.

Naturally, the NPP, being the ruling party, had allied with the BJP-ruled Centre for the purpose of bringing development, Conrad Sangma had time and again pointed out.

But it failed to percolate down to the voters mind, as evident from the results.

Even after the chief minister had demonstrated that when the issues and concerns of the people were at stake, the NPP would rise to the occasion.

Party supporters and well-wishers recall the posturing by the chief minister during the peak of the anti-CAA movement, turning out to be the voice for the entire region, and described by many as the ‘hero of the Northeast’.

Conrad Sangma’s journey has been successful, with his party surging and emerging as a formidable voice in the Northeast.

So, what went wrong?

According to Conrad Sangma, the alliance with the NDA was purely for development. However, the narrative played out differently.

Now let’s take a look at different issues that played out.

Fears of being swarmed by outsiders through the controversial Citizens Amendment Act or CAA law, although 6th Schedule of the Constitution protected the region from outside interference, the terrible killings in Manipur where attacks on Christian minority Kuki tribe by a Hindu majority Meitei community continue to be perpetrated under the very nose of a BJP government in that state, the attacks on Christian education institutions in Assam where the state chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma became the new mascot of the Hindutva brigade, was all too overbearing for the Garo voters.

Then came the side dish of rising food prices such as gas cylinders and unemployment which was at an all time high of 8.1 percent in the country.

The final dessert was the fear of a change in the constitution as some BJP leaders began propagating for it that gave the opposition congress the much needed gunpowder to take on the BJP- in this case the NPP which was seen in the avatar of the prime minister’s party. After all, Conrad Sangma had stated at an election campaign that, “A vote for the NPP would be a vote for Modi”. Clearly he failed to notice the people’s contempt for a man who had been the face of anti-minorities.

Now that elections are over and it’s back to business, can the NPP and chief minister Conrad K Sangma shake off people’s anger? Or will the stain be permanent. It remains to be seen, but as the saying goes in politics, “Public memory is always short.” One will have to wait and see how true this is.

Read: Robin Hibu, first IPS officer from Arunachal Pradesh Promoted to DGP Rank

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