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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-02-28 03:02:41
The
Congress rout continues in the North-East. The exit polls for the three
North-Eastern states predict that while the party is likely to get between 3-6
seats in Meghalaya (down from the 20 it got in 2018), it is unlikely to open
its account in both Tripura (where it is in alliance with the Left) and
Nagaland. This despite the fact that even 10 years ago, the party was, either
alone or in alliance with regional parties, in power in most of the states in
the region.
As the BJP
has focussed on the North-East ever since it came to power in 2014, the
Congress has given the impression that it has lost interest. In state after
state, starting with Assam, the Congress has inexplicably yielded space to the
BJP and its regional allies while it has chosen not to stop defections and
otherwise not paid enough attention to the problems of party leaders from the
region.
Is it
because the region does not add much weight in Parliament? Is it because the
Congress thinks that the BJP must be fought in the Hindi heartland and stopped
from spreading its tentacles in the south? But that is a huge mistake the party
has made. It had tall leaders in the North-East. The late P A Sangma was
expelled in 1999 and Himanta Biswa Sarma left in 2014. Other leaders in smaller
states left to start their own regional parties. The high command could do nothing
to stop the slide.
As things
stand now, the BJPs war cry of Congress-mukt India is likely to begin from the
North-East. If it does not take corrective action, in a few years from now the
Congress is going to be wiped out in the region. The party has announced the
second part of Bharat Jodo Yatra from Arunachal Pradesh. It should treat that
as an opportunity to rebuild the bridges with the people in the region.