While the BJP made a marginal presence in two of the three state assembly polls in the North-East, the regional parties took the upper hand in terms of both vote and seat tallies. The BJP can take some satisfaction in that its rival political establishment, the Congress, fared worse. In the national election sweepstakes, the sister states in the North-East too have their eminent roles to play.
The election results in Nagaland and Meghalaya were not wholly unexpected, but the surprise was more in the manner in which the BJP managed to hold on to power in Tripura. This, even as the saffron party’s assembly strength came down from 36 to 32 while the BJP ally — regional Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) – lost seven of its seats and won only one seat this time. The gain from this erosion was for the Tipra Motha of Manikya Debbarma. The regional political entity seeking a separate state within Tripura not only won 13 seats but also emerged as the main opposition. The CPI-M and the Congress that entered into an opportunistic alliance to defeat the BJP – just as the two did in West Bengal to defeat the TMC – managed to win 11 seats and three seats respectively. Both the parties substantially lost their seat strengths in the assembly. In this attempt to win power at all costs the people have shown them the right place; signifying a maturity for Indian democracy even in the far-flung corners of the country.
Conrad Sangma can take pride in the fact that even as the BJP deserted him, he stood his ground in the election arena. A chastened BJP, with no more than two seats, is now ready to offer him support. Among other things, the issue of corruption was one reason that the BJP cited against Sangma for avoiding a poll-alliance with National People’s Party (NPP). The election results by themselves do not draw the curtains down on such allegations; and such issues should be taken to their logical conclusions. At the same time, expectations are that the BJP would, in the next five years, work hand-in-hand with Sangma to speed up development of the state. More central support is what the state aspires for in its growth push. Having come this far, Meghalaya can hope to have a stable government even as the NPP does not have a majority of its own. Those in the Congress and the TMC could sooner or later be sitting ducks for the ruling party to do poaching. This is more so as the TMC’s attempt to at least emerge as the principal opposition in Meghalaya did not succeed.