By Patricia Mukhim
Like all political commentators worth their salt the first question that arises about the newly floated regional front of the North East is – will it work? This is a genuine question considering that such attempts have been tried, tested and failed. This time the heirs of the progenitors of such regional party unity have tried their hand at it again. So, what are the key factors that could make this regional force tick and what could blow it apart. The last thing one wishes to do is to pour cold water on an idea, especially if its genuine and has the larger interests of the “people” at heart. But the word “people” read ‘jaidbynriew’ and ‘ki paidbah’ in Khasi – are two words most bandied about by politicians, so much so they create an immediate revulsion. The ‘people’ are an amorphous entity as is what political thinkers term as “the idiom” that suggests nothing other than a figment of the political imagination.
It is a fact that the mover and shaker of this political convergence is Pradyot Manikya Deb Barma the scion of the Tripura royal family and currently elected member of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, but a formidable political player who is a thorn in the flesh of the BJP although his party the TIPRA Motha is its alliance partner in the state assembly. Interestingly, Pradyot Manikya’s sister, Maharani Kriti Singh Debbarma the present MP also won the Tripura East seat from the BJP.
Pradyot Manikya, Conrad Sangma of the National Peoples’ Party (NPP) and Mhonlumo Kikon the former BJP leader and former minister from Nagaland who recently resigned from the party are the three main champions of this regional outfit. What political observers question is why the Pradyot- led TIPRA Motha and the Conrad Sangma led NPP are still in alliance with the BJP and why they have not called it quits. It is this strange alliance of the TIPRA Motha and the NPP with the BJP that is mind boggling.
In Meghalaya the BJP won only two seats and the NPP currently has 33 MLAs. The NPP therefore is not compelled to have any truck with the BJP but realpolitik demands that the party ruling at the Centre must be humoured so that the money tap keeps running. If the tap runs dry it will be well-nigh impossible for states to generate their own revenue for development purposes. Also, there are ways by which the current BJP regime has tried to queer the pitch for those states where it has no stakes in. This political compulsion faced by all states in the North East is what compels them to cavort with a political party they would rather not sleep with.
Pradyot Manikya and Conrad Sangma both scions of political stalwarts have made one thing clear – they are not for or against any national party but are determined to add heft to a combined regional front so that the voices of the indigenous people of the region are not subsumed by national priorities since the northeastern states because of their geo-strategic location need to be paid adequate attention to. The fact that Mohammed Yunus who heads the caretaker government in Bangladeshi is repeatedly referring to the region as being land-locked and that he includes the north-eastern states along with China as part of a larger eastern economic corridor and that India did not even respond adequately to this audacious claim, often makes the people of this region wonder what the national government is really thinking and whether the occasional laudatory statements such as calling the eight states as the Ashtalakshmi of India are only meant to humour us in the region.
Having said that, the members of One North East (ONE) need to get real about this ambitious move. The first question that arises is whether the large swathes of people that are card carrying members of the TIPRA Motha and the NPP have been consulted before floating this new regional outfit. Ground level consultations suggest that the leaders care for the opinions of their party workers and that they will be on board this new ship that has just been launched. Are all the MLAs of the above two parties in sync with the proposed move? Nothing works like ground level consultation. It tells people that their views matter and that unstinted support from the ground up is what will strengthen this new alliance.
Also, the fact that other regional tribal political forces from Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and even Assam, such as the Bodo People’s Front led by Hagrama Mohilary and the United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL) led by Pramod Boro are not with the newly floated regional political assemblage poses a challenge to regional party unity. In many states regional parties have contested against one another. The fact that the UPPL and BPF in Bodoland are rival parties and in Meghalaya the Voice of Peoples Party (VPP) a strong contender in the next assembly election sees the NPP as a rival and has even given a call to all those supporting the present government to actually bring it down, would make any attempt at unity a desperate move. Also, Mhonlumo Kikon a key partner of ONE has not been able to negotiate with the Nationalist Peoples Progressive Party (NDPP) to get it to come on board. Today in Nagaland the NDPP is ruling the roost. Will Kikon manage to lure Neiphiu Rio to join the regional mahagatbandhan?
The call for a united regional political alliance is however not a novelty. Attempts have been made in the past too by Purno A Sangma, the only north-easterner to have held the post of Speaker in the Lok Sabha. When he decided to be a contender for the post of President of India, he wanted to get in through the support of a united regional front but that attempt was scuttled by national political parties. It is not a politically naïve step to call for regional party unity if the objectives are clearly stated and people buy into the idea. Both Conrad Sangma and Pradyot Manikya have stated unambiguously that the attempt to unite regional voices comes from the need to negotiate with Delhi from a position of strength and not as subordinates of the national parties.
This synergy between regional parties also has its genesis in the slow implementation of the terms of the tripartite agreement signed on March 2, 2024, between the Government of India, the Government of Tripura, and the TIPRA Motha to address all issues related to the indigenous people of Tripura in a time-bound manner, which was seen by Pradyot Manikya as tardy and lacking commitment on the part of the Government of India. Pradyot is particularly anxious about the indigenous tribals of Tripura who do not enjoy land rights like other indigenous tribes in other states of India. In Tripura land is owned by the government. Pradyot has been negotiating that such land rights be returned to the tribals but in vain.
Negotiating with the Government of India is a slow and exhausting process as the Nagas will attest. The peace accord signed in 1997 and again ratified in 2015 in the form of the Framework Agreement have not made any progress. In 2015, TH Muivah the NSCN(IM) supremo had reportedly given up the sovereignty demand. Now back at his birthplace after over five decades, the NSCN (IM) leader has reiterated the sovereignty demand. Hence negotiating with Government of India is a case of one step forward, two steps backwards. The process leads to fatigue which perhaps bothers Pradyot and others in similar situations.
Hence the case for ONE is a strong one provided all stakeholders buy into this idea and support it wholeheartedly. There will be critics and antagonists for any new idea and as tribals we have some congenital behavioural problems which is to put down an idea even before it has taken shape. Those who criticise unfortunately don’t have better options to offer to strengthen regional party unity. The VPP is one such party that has launched scathing attacks on the NPP and even urged the MLAs supporting the NPP-led government to bring down the MDA-2 government. Granted that there are serious governance issues in some departments headed by those who use the government to further their business deals. This is where Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has to push the brakes on such attempts at personal aggrandisement at the cost of the people of Meghalaya. To Pradyot Manikya’s credit he is not in politics to further his personal goals. This has been evident over the years.
As far as the VPP is concerned it should focus at providing good governance in the Khasi Hills District Council where it is duly elected to lead. Not much is visible on the ground as yet as far as eco-restoration of rivers and forests are concerned. The Umgot River is the brief of the KHADC. So it’s important for leaders to be less critical and more open to new ideas. No single person is the repository of all wisdom. We live and learn!
