New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological push centred on Hindutva has run into rough weather in Northeast India, with at least three allies — National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in Nagaland and TIPRA Motha in Tripura — identifying it as one of the major reasons behind the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) losing at least six seats in the region.
It is rare for the BJP, in recent memory, to face a collective political repudiation of this kind in the region, where it has grown considerably popular over the last decade — including in Christian-majority states of Nagaland and Meghalaya — aided by the support of local parties that generally tend to ally with the national party in power at the Centre.
What has made matters worse for BJP is the statement by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma that the NDA lost seats in the region as a “particular community” did not back it. It drew a stinging response from a non-ally like the Voice of People Party (VOPP), which won the Shillong seat, and is steadily growing in Meghalaya.
“The socio-religious aspects of BJP’s ideology did not go down well with the people of the region. We took a beating for no fault of our own. I have to admit that they have become a burden for us,” a senior leader of the NDPP, the largest party in Nagaland’s ruling alliance, told ThePrint.
Asked if the NDPP plans to exit the NDA, a Nagaland cabinet minister said, “It will not happen immediately. But in politics, things keep changing. The time has come for us to sit and introspect.”
The Congress won the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland in the 2024 elections for the first time since 1999, despite the NDPP candidate being supported by all the 60 legislators, including the 12 BJP MLAs, in the ‘Opposition-less’ state assembly. S. Supongmeren Jamir of the Congress defeated NDPP’s Chumben Murry by over 50,000 votes.
Speaking to reporters after the declaration of the results, Meghalaya Cabinet Minister Rakkam Sangma of the NPP made more scathing remarks, as he squarely blamed BJP’s emphasis on Hindutva behind the debacle in Meghalaya, where NPP lost one seat to the Congress, and the other to VOPP.
“In the last 10 years, the BJP focused more on ideology rather than governance. That’s why BJP’s numbers have come down. They only talk about RSS, Hindutva. It’s a lesson, it’s a wake-up call for everybody. It’s a lesson for the BJP also because they always talk about Hindutva,” Sangma said, highlighting the simmering tension between BJP and NPP in Meghalaya.
Asked if the party was reviewing its ties with the BJP, Sangma said they have allied “for the sake of development”. “People have brushed the BJP with the NPP this time, but it is completely different. The BJP president is a Hindu, while Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya CM and NPP chief) is a Catholic Christian,” he added.
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Christian-dominant states
Meghalaya, like Nagaland and Mizoram, is a Christian-majority state.
With its rise to power at the Centre, BJP managed to make inroads in these states to some extent by tempering its ideological agenda. In Nagaland, for instance, the party’s local units have even organised beef parties.
But its Hindutva push in other parts of the country, coupled with the ethnic flare-up in Manipur, where many churches suffered acts of arson, several Christian organisations and church bodies began questioning the party. Ahead of the elections, the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) had even accused the party of “actively promoting right wing extremism”.
Speaking to ThePrint, VOPP chief Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said the Assam CM had no business interfering in the state of Meghalaya”. He was referring to Sarma’s statement on the members of a “particular community” not favouring the BJP.
“It is so unbecoming of a CM to make such remarks. To attribute his failure to the church is communal. He is a habitual loose talker,” Basaiawmoit said. Asked if the VOPP will ever strike any understanding with the NDA, like other parties of the region, he said that it was out of the question as “VOPP is a party with an ideology and philosophy founded on clean politics, constitutional values and secularism”.
“We do not need to support either NDA or INDIA. But we are ready to extend issue-based support to INDIA bloc in case the situation arises,” he added.
In Tripura, where the BJP enjoys a slender majority in the 60-member assembly, TIPRA Motha, which has 13 seats and is its ally, has also made statements since 4 June that has made the ruling alliance nervous.
Demand for special status
TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Debbarma, whose sister Kriti Singh Debbarma won the East Tripura seat on a BJP ticket, has demanded special status for the state, joining the chorus of NDA allies Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh. While doing so, Debbarma reminded the BJP that unlike other parts of the Northeast, the tribals of Tripura supported the party.
“If N. Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar can demand special status for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, we can do so as well without being called communal. The Government of India should keep in mind that the BJP and NDA performed poorly in Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland,” Debbarma said.
“Why are the tribal areas giving us tension? We voted for you (BJP) in Tripura. Give us special status, and get the 125th Constitutional amendment passed and implemented across sixth schedule areas in the Northeast. If you do not protect us now, then there will be trouble in the coming days,” he added.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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