From C K Nayak
New Delhi: Drubbing in the just concluded Assembly elections has unnerved the ruling Congress which will face similar polls in less than a year away in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
Assembly elections are also due in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Delhi in next phase. Finally the party also has to face Lok Sabha Polls in 2014 along with some other states.
The party supremo Sonia Gandhi took stock of the election results of the five states. Although she put up a brave face in the jaws of defeat, she also told the party men that they have to be prepared for the next electoral battle.
From the three northeastern states each one is a worry for the Congress in some way or the other. Meghalaya will not only face anti-incumbency factors but also frequent change of leadership issue, which dogged the party in most of this term. Besides this the intense infighting in the party which now though remains underground is also another cause of worry for the AICC. While the Congress led alliance Government remained stable for more than a year, a feat by Meghalaya standard, there is almost a “paralytic condition in the party.”
The party President remained ill for a long time and was away from the state. Meanwhile, the party held controversial elections to chose candidates for the 2013 Assembly polls much to the chagrin of the AICC, which was later, stopped.
Meanwhile, Congress ruled Mizoram has only once returned back to the same party during Zoram Thanga regime. Otherwise the state has seen revolving chairs most parts of its recent history.
In Nagland the opposition led DAN Government is quite strong and looks all set to register a hat trick. Moreover, defeat of veteran former Chief Minister, S C Jamir has demoralized the faction ridden state Congress further.
The defeat suffered by the Congress in four states, according to analysts, marks a revival of sentiment against the party across the country, eminiscent of the popular mood in the 1970s and 1980s. Failing to address this could prove costly to the ruling party in the coming assembly elections, poll pundits said.
To add to the misery, there is hardly any time for the Congress for the three Assembly polls. Election notifications for the three hills states are due in the early parts of next year but the poll fever will grip in the second half of this year itself, the pundits said.
The AICC also cannot wholly bank upon the state in-charges in the three states in the region going to polls. Dr Dhaniram Shandil who is in charge of these states is new to the region.
His predecessor Luinzo Falerio, former chief minister of Goa saw victory in Manipur where he is in charge but his own state was lost to BJP. Mr Sanjay Bapana, Secretary in charge of these states including Meghalaya was actively involved in elections in Uttar Pradesh where Congress fared worst.
Unless the party does something spectacular on development front and take special care within it would be very very difficult to do well in the three states, they feel. A lone victory in the absence of strong opposition in Manipur can not boost electoral fortune in the 3 NE states, they felt.