New Delhi: Members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) invited by its chairman Amit Shah for the June 5 meeting in New Delhi were called only if they had won a seat in these general elections. Those who failed to win any seat, even if they were allies and had contested these parliamentary polls jointly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were not allowed to be at the high table. This has led to talks that it was the NDAW now, W standing for only winners being invited, not allies.
This has widened gaps between the BJP and the region, which has so far taken the Northeast for granted, politically. Coming at a time when BJP needs to present a diametrically different face from what it has done for the past decade. There are 25 MPs that seven Northeastern states bring to the 543-member Lok Sabha. BJP has 240.
There is discontent brewing in the Northeast for the BJP, which had so far taken their ‘loyalty’ for any party ruling Delhi to another level. The electoral verdict, with shock victories for the Congress in Nagaland and Manipur, has opened the door on a new phase of politics of the periphery. Modi’s centralising rule and Hindutva push have got pushback, which Assam’s chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has widened by speaking bitterly of Christian resentment against the BJP.
No Nagaland
Neiphiu Rio, Nagaland chief minister and leader of the Nationalist Democratic People’s Party (NDPP), was present in Delhi yesterday, but not at the meeting.
Aside from being an NDA member, Rio also runs the Nagaland government in coalition with the BJP, and had fought the April 19 polls for the lone Nagaland parliamentary seat in alliance with the BJP. To the shock of both BJP and NDPP, the seat has been won by the Congress — after a hiatus of 26 years. K.A. Sangtam had won it for the Congress last in 1998.
“Our leader is naturally not happy at not being invited to the NDA meeting yesterday; it seems it was just because our candidate lost the elections. But we are still in the government with the BJP as NDA partners. Also, since the BJP contested the seat jointly with us, the blame can’t simply be on our party,” said a source in the NDPP, peeved at the national leadership of the BJP for ignoring Rio.
According to the NDPP source, as of June 6 morning, Rio is still in New Delhi. “He is staying at the official bungalow of the party Lok Sabha MP who had won the seat in 2019. Now, it looks like that bungalow will go from us soon.”
According to an NDPP source in Kohima, Nagaland BJP’s top leader Y. Patton, also the state home minister, had also avoided going to Delhi after the results were announced. In the run-up to the April 19 voting, Patton had told reporters that even though people from the six districts of Nagaland would not participate in these elections, their joint candidate would win “with a thumping majority”. Voters in those districts had stayed away from the polling booths on April 19 at the call of the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) because of the failure of Union home minister Amit Shah and the Narendra Modi government to fulfil the promise made to them about granting statehood to the region prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“Patton went on record saying even if the joint candidate receives only one vote from ENPO (areas), he will win with a thumping majority. Mind you, those areas didn’t vote this time because they were angry with BJP, not us. So how can their central leadership make it look like the loss is only ours? If people had voted in those areas, the NDPP candidate would have won on June 4,” said the NDPP source.
No Meghalaya
Another NDA leader from the Northeast missing from the meeting was Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma. His party, the Nationalist People’s Party (NPP), had also contested the two parliamentary seats of the state jointly with the BJP. The national party is also part of the NPP government in the state.
The Tura seat was won by the Congress and the Shillong seat by Voice of People’s Party (VPP).
VPP is a new entity hinged on Khasi sentiments, while chief minister Sangma is a Garo from Tura. VPP winning the Shillong seat, where majority of voters are Khasis, is a significant development in that hill state.
Himanta Sarma widens fissures between Northeast and BJP
BJP sources in Meghalaya told this correspondent that the decision to contest the polls jointly with the NPP was taken by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with Conrad Sangma. “Some within our party wanted to contest at least one seat (Shillong) on our own even if we knew it may not be easy to win it but if we have to grow in the state, we have to contest elections. But Sarma decided against it. Same was the case in Nagaland. Even though some Nagaland BJP members were wanting to contest separately, Sarma and Patton decided not to, along with chief minister Rio. So, this Meghalaya loss is as much NPP’s as it is of ours; we took a joint decision,” said the sources.
Meghalaya BJP sources, and the NDPP source in Nagaland, also blamed Sarma squarely for “taking away a lot of votes” in both these Christian-majority states by making anti-Christian public statements. “A video slip showing Sarma saying ‘Christianity should end’ was circulated widely by the opposition before the elections. It was such an insensitive thing to say. It confirmed only the fears the voters in our states against the BJP. Now, Sarma has blamed the voters in the hill states for not electing our candidates but did he also not contribute to it?” the NDPP source asked.
On June 6 too, Sarma repeated what he had said about these Christian-majority states while speaking to reporters in Guwahati, “In Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur, a particular religion went against NDA. That has made the difference as that religion has tremendous followers in those states. It is not a political defeat. Nobody can fight against a religion.” Sarma also said, “This religion (read Christianity) usually does not interfere in politics but this time they got involved and even in Assam. They have openly worked against the NDA this time.”
In the run-up to these elections, Hindutva groups in Assam particularly targeted Church-run schools, demanding that they remove all ‘religious symbols’ from the educational institutions, kicking up considerable fear in the community in the state, and also condemnation from the people and Church and political leaders from neighbouring states.
Such utterances by Sarma at the June 6 press meet seem to be after the national leadership expressing its displeasure at the chief minister for not not being able to deliver more seats from the region. Sarma is meant to be the primary strategist of the party in the region. On being asked, sources in the Assam BJP have confirmed to The Wire that Sarma had promised 13 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats of Assam along with the allies to the national leadership. “He was so confident that while we will win 12 on our own, two others will come from the allies. And Congress will be reduced to just one seat in Assam. But Congress ended up getting three seats, while we couldn’t increase our 2019 individual tally. Overall, we could deliver only 11 seats. So, the national leadership is a bit upset with us.”
The BJP sources also added, “Sarma was very positive about delivering 21 of the 25 seats from the region along with our partner parties. But we got only 16, including Sikkim. It is less than the 2019 NDA tally. Voters in the hill states clearly went against NDA. Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya are nil for us this time.”
Modi missing from Manipur, now Manipur missing in BJP tally
In Manipur, more than the polarisation of Christian votes, Modi ignoring the ethnic conflict, and Shah endorsing the party’s chief minister N. Biren Singh in spite of the massive violence suffered by both Meitei and Kuki communities of the state seemed to have proved to be rather costly for the party.
Both the Inner and Outer Manipur seats were snatched from the BJP by the Congress while Biren Singh failed to deliver the promise made to Sarma. “There was so much violence we saw during the voting on April 19 in the Inner Manipur seat including attempts by the opponent party to capture polling booths. And yet, people have spoken,” said a Congress source in Imphal. He also pointed out, “Our win in the Outer seat is also because of massive support shown by the Kuki voters. They didn’t want the NPF (Nagaland People’s Front) candidate to win, knowing well that his win would add to the NDA tally, and thereby Modi,” he said, claiming, “The Congress’a win in that seat was in spite of the NSCN (Isac-Muivah) support to the NPF candidate”.
Amit Shah’s NDA
Going by Shah’s logic that an NDA partner must win at least a seat to be able to be present at the meeting on June 5, invitations were sent to the leaders of three other allies of the BJP from the region — Pramod Boro of UPPL (Liberal) which won the Kokrajhar seat; Atul Bora of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) which won the Barpeta seat; and Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) for winning the Sikkim LS seat. Each of them are reported to have handed over their letters of support at the meeting to elect Modi as the leader of the NDA.
Missing Ajit
Another significant absence from the NDA meeting, even though his party had received an invitation by dint of winning just a single seat, was Ajit Pawar of the National Congress Party (NCP). The Ajit faction’s dismal performance at the polls was stark as against his uncle Sharad Pawar’s faction in Maharashtra. Still, Praful Patel from the Ajit faction showed up, thereby endorsing Shah’s rule that only winners can be invitees to an NDA meeting.
