December 21, 2024

Congress' Downfall In North-East Continues Unabated

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-02-28 03:02:41

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Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

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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.