SHILLONG – Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday, without disclosing what was discussed, as the BJP’s talks with nine UDP MLAs put the Khasi language demand into a fresh political contest.
Sangma’s post was brief: “Called on Hon’ble Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah in New Delhi today.” He gave no details of the meeting, its agenda or any outcome.
The meeting comes days after reports that nine of the UDP’s 12 MLAs are negotiating with the BJP over a possible switch. Khasi language inclusion in the Eighth Schedule is among the demands reportedly placed before the BJP leadership. The demand carries particular political weight because Sangma has been pursuing the inclusion of both Khasi and Garo with the Centre. In June, he raised the two languages with Shah as part of Meghalaya’s demands.
The UDP legislators, however, are reportedly seeking a commitment from the BJP on Khasi inclusion as part of their negotiations. The BJP leadership has reportedly given verbal assurances on several demands, but the legislators want clarity on timelines.
The stakes are larger than a language demand.
For the BJP, winning over nine UDP MLAs would dramatically expand its presence in Meghalaya and give it a much stronger base in the Khasi Hills. For the UDP legislators, a concrete commitment from Delhi could turn a long-standing regional demand into a political achievement attached to their move. For Sangma, there is another calculation. His government has claimed the Khasi-Garo demand as a Meghalaya-wide issue. A BJP-backed Khasi-only push would allow the national party to claim a direct role in delivering one of the state’s most persistent demands.
The nine UDP MLAs had already met Shah and raised Khasi and Garo language inclusion, among other demands. Shah reportedly told them the language issue was under consideration.
Sangma’s meeting with Shah now puts both sides of that political equation in the same frame. The Chief Minister has not said whether Saturday’s discussion touched the language issue or the reported movement of UDP legislators. But the timing is difficult to ignore: as the BJP negotiates with the UDP MLAs over Meghalaya-specific demands, Sangma has once again gone directly to Shah.
The question hanging over the meeting is not whether Sangma can stop a BJP-UDP realignment. It is whether Khasi’s Eighth Schedule demand could become the political prize that seals the BJP’s deal with nine UDP MLAs.
