Meghalaya’s Political Shake-up: Is VPP Emerging as the AAP of the Hills?

Meghalaya is moving away from its traditionally fragmented multipolarity, writes Sagarneel Sinha.

VPP’s success shows that the political shift seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the Khasi Hills was not a one-off black swan event.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/ The Quint)

On 26 February, the results of Meghalaya's Khasi Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and the Jaintia Autonomous District Council (JHADC) for the tribal council elections were announced. In the KHADC, the Opposition Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) secured a simple majority by winning 17 seats out of 29, while in the JHADC, the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) emerged as the single largest party by securing 13 out of 29 seats.

Although Meghalaya's state Assembly elections are still three years away, these council results are significant as more than half of the state assembly constituencies — 36 — fall under these councils. Of the 36 assembly constituencies, 29 fall under the KHADC, while 7 of them come under the JHADC.

These elections are more than local contests and offer a window into the shifting sands of Meghalaya's larger political landscape.

VPP’s Rise: Not a Black Swan Event

While there were speculations of a hung council, the VPP once again poured cold water on these projections by securing a simple majority in the KHADC polls. This itself is a significant feat, especially in a region where power has historically alternated between the two regional parties — the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) — alongside the Congress.

VPP’s success shows that the political shift seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the Khasi Hills was not a one-off black swan event.

It is worth noting that the party sprang a major political surprise in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when its candidate, Ricky Syngkon, defeated Congress’s Vincent H Pala in the Shillong Lok Sabha constituency.

The seat was considered a bastion of the Congress, having been held by the party for six consecutively terms in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. VPP’s Syngkon secured a whopping 55.02 percent of the vote this time.

VPP and AAP: Same Playbook, Different States

The VPP was formed in 2021 with the promise to bring fresh change to the state's politics.

Much like the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the VPP's founder and president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit launched the party by projecting himself as a crusader against corruption and as a leader of the common people. Similar to AAP, which was born out of an anti-corruption movement, the foundation of VPP is based on clean politics. To establish its image as a party for the "aam aadmi" (common man)”, the VPP’s election meetings — as seen during Lok Sabha elections — were very simple with no pomp and grandeur. 

It was the model of seeking and bringing "change" in the "system" by reducing money power in politics that brought AAP to power in Delhi in 2015 with a gigantic mandate. The image of Kejriwal became popular as “a new leader who is against corruption and wants to bring a real change in politics.”

Although VPP is currently in the initial phase of its political journey, it has had a promising start — it has kept its promise of practicing austerity measures in politics by forming a small Executive Council (EC) in the KHADC. Earlier NPP-led KHADC had 11 EC members including the Chief Executive Member (CEM), the newly formed EC will have 8 ECs including the CEM.

While both the parties are based on the foundation of clean politics, there are dissimilarities too. Unlike Kejriwal who was a political outsider at the time of the party's rise, Basaiawmoit is a familiar face in state politics.

He was earlier elected as a legislator in the 2008 state Assembly polls on a UDP ticket before switching to the HSPDP and winning again in 2013. Disillusioned with the established regional parties, he eventually founded the VPP.

In this sense, the regional party bears a closer resemblance to Mizoram’s ruling party, the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), led by Lalduhoma, who also launched the party with the aim of bringing change to Mizoram’s politics after previous stints in several regional parties in the state.

The party fought its first electoral battle in the last state Assembly elections held in 2023, where it made a decent electoral beginning by winning four assembly seats — all in the Khasi region. However, its major breakthrough came with a 10-day hunger strike led by Basaiawmoit, demanding a review of the state’s 1972 reservation policy, which gives equal reservation of 40 percent each to Garo and Khasi tribes.

The hunger strike by Basaiawmoit forced the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government led by Conrad Sangma of the NPP to form an expert committee to review the state reservation policy.

The current reservation policy is seen as discriminatory by the people of the Khasi tribe, whose numbers have grown significantly larger than the Garo population. According to the 2011 census, the population of Khasis was over 14.1 lakh while the population of Garos was over 8.21 lakh. The Khasi tribe includes various sub-tribes, including the Jaintias, Wars, Bhois and Lyngngams.

The VPP’s triumph in the KHADC reflects growing dissatisfaction among the Khasi electorate with both the traditional regional parties — UDP and HSPDP — and national parties like the Congress.

This was evident in the results: UDP managed only five seats, HSPDP just one, and Congress failed to open its account in the KHADC for the first time. Meanwhile, the ruling NPP, despite its efforts to make inroads into the Khasi Hills, secured just 4 seats.

The disenchantment stems from the UDP and HSPDP’s inability to deliver genuine change, often prioritising opportunistic alliances to remain in government.

This has created a political vacuum that the VPP has sucessfully filled, banking on the Khasi sentiments to solidify its support base in the Khasi hills. This growing influence of the VPP is also going to make the party one of the dominant parties of the state and also a major power contender in the near future in the state’s politics.

The Future of Meghalaya's Politics

The ruling NPP got a big jolt in the Lok Sabha elections after it lost its stronghold Tura Lok Sabha constituency — falling in the Garo hills — to the Congress. As a result, the party for the first time has no representation in the Lok Sabha.

However, the results of the JHADC have offered some relief to the NPP. Despite winning three seats short of majority — 13 — in the 30-member JHADC, NPP is forming the council with the support of three councillors of the UDP and one independent councillor. One independent councillor has already joined the NPP, taking its tally to 14. The VPP emerged as the second largest party by securing eight seats while Congress won three.

The recent developments, including the KHADC and JHADC polls, indicate that multipolarity is getting reduced in the state.

In the Khasi Hills, the VPP has established its dominance by eating into the votes of the UDP and HSPDP, while in the Jaintia Hills, the VPP is in contest with the NPP. On the other hand, while the Congress made significant gains in the Lok Sabha polls, there is indication that the grand old party has started losing ground now.

This became evident from the Gambegre assembly by-election, where the Congress lost its stronghold to the NPP, indicating that the ruling party has been able to recover some of its losses. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has already mostly lost its steam in the Garo hills.

Although Meghalaya’s politics has not yet become fully bipolar, the direction is clear — the state is moving away from its traditionally fragmented multipolarity.

In the near future, the VPP and NPP appear poised to become the state’s two dominant forces, with the UDP, HSPDP, and Trinamool Congress taking a backseat, though much will depend on the ability of the Congress, which still remains a weak force, to strengthen its organisation in Meghalaya's evolving political landscape.

(Sagarneel Sinha is a political commentator and tweets @SagarneelSinha. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)