The BJP and the RSS idea of a united India always had a special focus on the north east. RSS always feels that without bringing the north-east into the mainstream of India’s growth and development story, it is not possible to achieve its dream of a united India. RSS volunteers have been actively working in north east for several decades to simply remove the feeling of alienation among the people of north-east.
However, northeast generally doesn’t find a place in the mainstream discourse. It was treated in isolation. It was only post 2014 that the region became a part of our discussions which coincides with the BJP making inroads in the region.
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal was the first state to fall into BJP’s kitty. Because of internal differences within Congress, 43/44 Congress MLAs defected to PPA, a make shift party, before joining BJP en masse. Almost the entire congress leadership merged with BJP and Pema Khandu was installed as the Chief Minister. He completed his term and got re-elected as BJP CM in 2019, sending Congress out of the scene.
Manipur
Another instance of internal fight within Congress led to its split in Manipur. The Congress vice-president, Biren Singh had differences with the CM Ibobi Singh and quit the Congress to join BJP.
Post the Assembly elections, INC emerged as the single largest party. But BJP quickly cobbled up a coalition of anti-Congress parties and formed a government. After running the government successfully for almost 3 years, BJP engineered a defection within congress where 20 MLAs of congress joined BJP, thus giving a clear majority to the BJP.
Since it is a coalition of multiple parties, there were occasional rifts that required interventions from the top. When the National People’s Party left the coalition putting the government at risk during the pandemic, compromises had to be made to accommodate alliance partners. The political storm seems to have settled now. Nevertheless, from zilch to running a government, the BJP has come a long way in Manipur.
Tripura
Tripura was a different state. BJP’s opponent was not Congress but the mighty Communist who had ruled the state for almost 30 years without a break. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was known for his simplicity. The communist philosophy of making the rich poor to bring equality worked very well in Tripura. Tripura was lagging behind in several development indicators and badly needed a regime change.
BJP was quick to capture the vaccum in the opposition space in Tripura. BJP had a poor vote share of just around 1%. The Trinamool Congress MLAs in the assembly defected and joined BJP. Several top leaders from Congress also joined BJP. Under the leadership of Sunil Deodhar “the selfless servant”, BJP was slowing building up its base in Tripura.
As the assembly elections approached, BJP went out lock, stock and barrel against the Communists. Amit shah himself led the campaign from the front, conducting several road shows. Modi held a couple of rallies which saw huge turnout. BJP won a landslide victory winning 44 seats out 60 ending the communist rule. One more state where BJP has currently become the numero-uno party.
Meghalaya
The tiny state of meghalya was a big challenge for BJP. The Hindutva party was having a tough time in the Christian majority state. The polity of Meghalaya is extremely fragmented with several political parties representing several tribal groups. For a 60 member assembly – there were around half a dozen regional parties NPP, UDP, HSPDP, PDF, KHNAM, MDF, NCP added to the national parties INC and BJP.
BJP could not get any pre-poll alliance with any of the parties as all the regional parties were afraid of losing their Christian votes.
Post the election, Congress could not get a majority and was trying to form a coalition government with the support of the regional parties. Before Congress could even make a move, BJP swiftly met the governor with the letters of support from the dozen regional parties.
With the power of the Central government and anti-congress stand of the regional parties, BJP was successful in dethroning congress from yet another state in the north-east. Though Congress has lost power, it still is a strong force in the state and though BJP could come to power in a Christian majority state, it is still a minor player in Meghalaya politics. Only time will tell whether BJP will be able to engineer a split within Congress and grow its base in this state.
Nagaland
Yet another Christian majority state but here the challenge for BJP was not as difficult compared to Meghalaya. The Naga People Front was the single largest party of Nagaland. Neiphiu Rio, the former Chief Minister revolted and formed a separate party – DPP. BJP applied the Arunachal formula and DPP became a “nationalist party” – NDPP.
Before the assembly elections, both the regional parties (NPF and NDPP) were willing to join hands with BJP. But BJP decided to go with its friend NDPP. The alliance was a success and BJP was able to win 13 seats in the 60 member assembly.
The election results presented a unique opportunity for BJP as it became the kingmaker. Both the regional parties (NDPP – 20, NPF -26) once again sought the support of BJP to form government .BJP upheld its commitment with the NDPP and formed the government. Congress which was once the major opposition party in the state was totally wiped out from Nagaland as it failed to win even a single seat.
Even though BJP could not become the king, wiping out Congress from the state and becoming the king maker in a Christian majority state is a huge achievement for the BJP.
Mizoram
After making significant gains in the Christian majority states of Meghalaya and Nagaland, BJP’s next target was Mizoram – another Christian majority state. The two term Congress regime was facing a heavy anti-incumbency. It was certain that the Congress would lose power in the state but BJP was not the beneficiary of this.
For a state where the Church plays an important role in politics, it was very hard for the BJP to make inroads. But with power in the centre BJP could not be ignored by the regional parties. The minority Chakma tribals (mostly Hindus) were backing the BJP.
With a tacit understanding with the popular regional party, the Mizo National Front (MNF) ,BJP contested the elections alone and won its first ever seat in Mizoram’s history. Congress was crushed and could not even become the main opposition party.
Though the journey for BJP could be difficult in this state, the journey has at least begun on a positive note.
Sikkim
Politics in the tiny state of Sikkim has become very interesting after the arrival of BJP .Pawan Kumar Chamling the 5 term Chief Minister ruled the state for almost 32 years virtually without any opposition. In his last 2 decades, anti-incumbency started setting in and Sikkim Kranthikari Morcha (SKM) started gaining ground.
In the recent assembly elections, Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) fell short of majority by 2 seats. BJP failed to win even a single seat. Though the SDF was a part of NDA, BJP swiftly broke the alliance after elections. SKM with a majority formed the government.
As usual BJP engineered a split within the SDF. 10 out of the 13 SDF MLAs joined BJP,2 MLAs joined the ruling SKM. Pawan Kumar Chamling was the lone MLA left in his party. From 0,BJP jumped to 10 in the assembly and joined the Sikkim government.
This is a unique state where Congress never had any major role in the state’s politics. From nowhere BJP has become the ruling party.
Chanakya of north-east
Himanta Biswa sarma is the man behind BJP’s rise in the north-east. He was a former Congressman but later quit the party tired of its dynastic politics and lack of opportunities to grow. Because of his rivalry with Gaurav Gogoi, son of his former boss – Tarun Gogoi, Himanta decided to take revenge on the Congress by knocking them out of northeast. Congress lost power in all the states of north-east within a span of 5 years.
Himanta formed the NEDA – North East Democratic Alliance – a rainbow coalition of several regional parties of north east. NEDA cemented the position of BJP as a main player in the politics of north east.
Northeast in Modi era
Narendra Modi as PM has ended the several decades of neglect and alienation of north east. He has instilled the feeling of belonging among the people of north east.
He has initiated several development projects like bringing railway, road and air connectivity for the first time to several north eastern states. His Act East Policy, electrification scheme, decentralization of power to tribal groups, eliminating insurgents and solving several local conflicts by signing BODO Accord, Naga Accord, Chakma resettlement etc have transformed the lives of the people of Northeast.