Despite a ban on rat-hole mining in Meghalaya from 2014, the profitability of the industry has meant that no real efforts are being made to implement the ban effectively.
In the months leading up to the February 2018 Meghalaya state legislative elections, the Mukul Sangma-led Congress government has been plagued by a mass exodus of its legislators to the National People’s Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. This article chronicles these defections and conflicts within the party, and the political advantage they afford the BJP in its push for a Congress-mukt Meghalaya.
