Open Forum
New Delhi, 9 March
2018
N-East at Centre
THE BIG CHANGE
By Dr.S.Saraswathi
(Former
Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)
“In
Vastu Shastra, it is said that the North-East of a house is at the centre. Things are organized keeping North-East in mind. Similarly, our North-East will lead the
country’s development”, said Prime Minister Modi after declaration of election results in three States of that region. He termed
this as an “ideological victory”
and not just an “electoral victory”.
The
big change in the political landscape
effected through the ballot box in three North Eastern States --- Meghalaya,
Nagaland and Tripura --- must facilitate the construction of the nation with
central importance to the North-East taking a cue from the Vastu Shastra. Modi has
confirmed that the Centre would give priority to their development.
Details
show that honoring the dictates of the
Shastra must follow at once as they do not indicate a “right about turn” of the voters by conviction,
but a
turn made possible with unmatched electoral skill perfected by the
BJP.
In Meghalaya, the Congress was the ruling Party
for the last 10 years and this time, it emerged
as the biggest Party, but did not secure a majority to form the Government.
The pre-poll alliance of the BJP with the NPP ( National People’s Party ) and
UDP (United Democratic Party) under the name North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) won 27
seats against Congress’s 21 which
nullified the claim of the largest Party to be called first to form the Government.
The
Congress also miserably failed as in
Manipur last year to lead a post-poll alliance to garner
majority support to form the Government . Its failure coupled with BJP’s ability to forge
an alliance in lightening speed after
winning just two seats opened the door
for the NDA Government.
Anti-BJP forces may cry “foul, foul” and dub
this as an extension of the “Manipur formula”. But the reality seems to be the
preference of small regional Parties in the North-East at present to fall in
the basket of the BJP and not the Congress. It places a heavy responsibility on the BJP to
merge the North-East in mainstream
politics and economics.
Political
practitioners are already visualizing a future for this formula in bigger
States also to be successfully played by the BJP. Say, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala
where its hopes to stand on its own legs are bleak, in fact nil.
Replacement
of the Leftist CPI(M) which was in power
in Tripura for about 25 years with the Rightist BJP which
got no seats in 2013 and now won 43 seats out of 60 in alliance with the IPFT (Indigenous
People’s Front Tripura) is the
biggest surprise in this election series.
The
rout of the CPI(M) is a big blow to the Party and is likely to widen internal differences. Sure, it is a testing period for the two
Communist Parties. They have no future
in Parliamentary life at sight without useful allies; and with allies of various shades, they will
face ideological decline and lose the reason for existence which is worse than
loss of seats.
From
the status of being the main Opposition Party in Nagaland with 8 seats and
Tripura with 10 seats, its exit from the Assembly is dramatic for the Congress. Its vote share drastically declined from 24.9%
to 2.1% in Nagaland and from 36.5% to 1.8% in Tripura which reflects its decline in popularity rather than the mischief
of electoral arithmetic. The Party has
to worry about this whether the nation is worried or not.
The
descent is glaring when considered side by side with
the ascent of vote share of the BJP-IPFT
(Indigenous People’s Front Tripura) from
a paltry 2% in
2013 to 50.5% in 2018 and BJP’s individual share of votes from 1.54% to 43% and seats
from 0 to 35 in Tripura.
The
IPFT increased its vote share in the same period from 0.46% to 7.5% and from
losing deposits of all its 17 candidates in 2013 rose to win 8 of the 9 seats
it contested in 2018. These gains are
from the Congress.
Surely, there is a definite tidal wave
sweeping across the country and great expectations are bound to rise among
common people. They must be met if the
nation must be spared the wrath of disappointment of the masses which does not
take much time to burst out. U-turn of
voters is common. The North-East must be brought to the
centre of India’s growth.
It
requires a mental make-up to accept electoral defeat in sportsmanlike style as
suggested by NaMo and a frame of mind to join hands with the winner to work for
the good of the nation once the electoral fight is over. This is where
political Parties in India totally fail.
They do not realize that Parliamentary “opposition” is part of
governance responsible to provide constructive cooperation including criticism and
not destructive blockages.
For, politics has now become a career to
advance in power and positions and not an opportunity to serve the people. Electoral defeats give rise to physical
fights within the legislatures, blockage of parliament function, criticism of
other Parties and leaders even in a
foreign land and so on.
The
seven States of the North-East, known as “seven sisters” comprising Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura comprise 7.98%
of the total area of the country and 3.91% of the total population. All these States have international borders
stretching to 5,500 km but only 21 km long corridor known as “Siliguri Neck”
connecting the region with the rest of India.
With
China on the north, Bangladesh on south-west, Myanmar on the east and Bhutan on
north-west its strategic significance is obvious. This very fact enhances the
responsibility of the Union Government to pay special attention to the growth
and development of this region and its firm integration with the rest of the
country physically and emotionally.
Besides
a well-oiled election propaganda machinery, the BJP has a superior
organizational set up. In the communist
stronghold of Tripura, where the BJP entered the fray without any positive
indication of victory, it spent a good deal of attention to organization of
campaigning. Campaign committees were
formed from booth level to constituency level and were integrated.
The
smallness of the three States together having only 180 seats is no
consideration to bestowing less attention for a Party keen on national
development. And States with
international borders are sensitive areas deserving extra attention.
The
strategy of forming a fast alliance with a regional Party has had been an old
one followed by the Congress many times.
At one stage, Indira Gandhi refrained from contesting for the Tamil Nadu
Assembly in return for DMK giving up all Parliamentary seats. The deal worked.
Federalism
in India is stretching to political Parties.
A national Party may become the leader in a State with a few seats in
the Assembly and take a lead in providing good governance in alliance with regional Parties provided they are bound together with common ideals and
programmes and a sense of national
oneness. The tie is important. ----
INFA .
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
|