Amidst the buzz throughout the country about the Cockroach Janata Party and the growing attention it has generated across social media platforms, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday said running a political organisation is not a simple exercise, cautioning against equating digital visibility and initial public enthusiasm with long-term political sustainability. At a time when Meghalaya’s sizeable youth electorate, including a growing Gen Z voter base, is increasingly shaped by digital discourse and issue-driven online movements, Sangma said the durability of any political formation ultimately depends on its organisational consistency, institutional framework and ability to withstand long-term political challenges rather than short-lived momentum. The Chief Minister adopted a “wait and watch” approach on the emerging political development.
“There are lot of challenges and the consistency and the stability and how you are able to run the party in the long run is very what matters. So initial hype can always be there which is again depends on the issues that are there. But I think what is important is the consistency and the long term stability of organization. So let’s see how it goes and we will be watching and what is important for us that we always maintain that we should build up and continue to organize our party and our organization and that’s what the matters to us,” Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said while talking to Media persons in Shillong.
Refusing to offer a direct political assessment of the emerging outfit, the Chief Minister said a political party must first evolve into a structured organisation with a defined base and constitutional framework before it can be evaluated as a serious political force. He noted that while contemporary politics is increasingly influenced by social media-driven narratives and rapidly spreading movements, such developments still remain at the stage of political mobilisation rather than institutional consolidation.
“I really have no comments on the the political party as such because party requires an organization, party requires a certain base and certain constitutional aspects. So I think as and when the party builds up into an organization only then will be able to comment. Right now, yes, there is a certain wave and that happens in today’s world, social media is very powerful and so it is very possible to connect to different issues and different programs or stands of the different individuals may take. But a political party is beyond, just a movement that is to be there. The movement is the beginning. So therefore there’s a long way to go. So we’ll have to wait and watch and see how things happened, how the shape up?” Sangma said.
Reiterating his broader assessment of political organisation and sustainability, the CM underscored that initial popularity cannot substitute for structured party-building, internal cohesion and long-term institutional stability, which he described as the defining markers of a credible political formation.
“As I said running a political organization is not so simple. There are lot of challenges and the consistency and the stability and how you are able to run the party in the long run is very what matters. So initial hype can always be there which is again depends on the issues that are there. But I think what is important is the consistency and the long term stability of organization. So let’s see how it goes and we will be watching and what is important for us that we always maintain that we should build up and continue to organize our party and our organization and that’s what the matters to us,” he added.
