Columnists
A giant leap
BJP’s march into the North-East is outstanding. Lessons must be in order for Left, Congress
Yes, the BJP has finally conquered the North-East, storming into well-entrenched existing bastions and uprooting them with a tenacity and unity of purpose. But there are stories of deeper import beyond the headlines. For one, the BJP, which was so far seen as a mainland entity of a predominantly north Indian orientation, has proved that it is no longer an outlier in the Seven Sisters kingdom, and has at least won hearts before the numbers. It has worked assiduously bottom up, cadres penetrating each block, reassuring tribals with a doing purpose than one of intent, stitching willing alliances in the process and showing demonstrable proof of extending infrastructure through roadways, railways and aviation.
But the other big story is the total wipeout of Leftist regimes in India (except Kerala) with the collapse of its outpost in Tripura. Manik Sarkar, a tall leader, who held together the State with his personal integrity and had somewhat developed a personality-oriented vision and work ethics, clearly lost steam after 20 years. This is surely a big blow to the Leftist movement in India. Yes, Jyoti Basu was a towering figure in his own right, who often ended up as a national heavyweight in the coalition era, but for all the early reformation of land, the three decades and more of Left rule in Bengal were least about development and economic prosperity and more about cadre-organised loyalty and in its worst avatar, terror. Such was the organised State structure and its beneficiaries that it took three decades for democracy to finally reclaim its space. Kerala was already used to alternative turns of Leftist and Congress rule but it was Manik Sarkar in Tripura who did command consistent faith and was seen as a performer, initiating some projects, even deflecting the pro-Congress tendencies of neighbours. But call it ennui or old-style politics, in recent years, there was tribal alienation. What perhaps he misread was the resurgence of a region which wanted to claim its aspirations, and denied growth despite siding with the ruling party at the Centre for years, decided to seize an opportunity to change. Allegations of chit fund, scams by his Ministers, loss of teachers’ jobs and with almost 70 per cent of the State’s population under the Below Poverty Line, the dispossessed could not be negotiated anymore. This is the other big takeaway from the North-East.
The Congress, which has historically had the advantage of being in a ruling position, has always kept these States dependent on itself, doling out benefits and grants only in return for electoral gains, a tradeoff rather than integrating it economically, socially or culturally. This has for years encouraged horse-trading and corruption among smaller parties who have claimed the price of attention and fractured the stability of the region in States like Meghalaya. The BJP inroad, though many analysts might call it the new Congress, is different precisely for this reason. For with Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, it has hit the ground running with its politics of deliverance and inducting locals in the process. So much so that tribal Christians sided with it and the trishul plank of the fringes was silenced decisively. It has certainly nudged quite a bit in Meghalaya where PA Sangma’s legacy still holds. The difference of approach is the reason why former Congress hands broke away and formed independent fronts and then allied with the BJP as a public prosperity partnership, a new PPP of sorts if it could be called that. And in Nagaland, dynamism has a new face in Neiphiu Rio, who did well not to take a Central ministerial position despite his proximity to Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and stayed back to build a stable base.
For Prime Minister Modi, this is consolidation for his look east policy, one that seeks to integrate the North-East as a common bloc and hopes to build trade, economic corridors and re-thread the historical and cultural contiguity in Southeast Asia, even reclaiming our mercantile signposts. This emboldens his strategic vision to parallel China’s. Crucially, it gives him a headstart for 2019 in the game of perception.
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