Guwahati: Hours after the election results of the three northeast Indian states of Meghalaya, Tripura, and Nagaland were declared on March 2 evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers for the party’s victory. He said that it was the party’s hard work that ‘Lotus’ was blooming across the country.
But beyond claims, the truth is the small and regional parties in the region stole the show significantly in this poll and highlighted the popularity of “regionalism” over “nationalism”.
The arithmetic of the elections might have favoured the saffron camp as they managed to be with the ‘right’ parties in these three states for the last five years. However, the show of the smaller camps was momentous.
The major highlight, of course, was the rise of the regional force of TIPRA Motha in Tripura, where BJP secured the highest number of seats.
Chairman of TIPRA Motha and royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarman said, “Though I was expecting a few more seats, nevertheless, it’s a huge leap. From zero to 13 seats and becoming the second-largest party within two years of its formation is a major victory for the voice of the indigenous people of Tripura. TIPRA Motha is a movement, and it can’t be compromised. Our demand will constantly be seeking a constitutional solution for the indigenous people of the state and we will work towards it.”
In Tripura, Debbarman’s party has, in fact, reduced the BJP’s grip in the state’s tribal belt areas. In 2018, the BJP had won 10 seats out of the 20 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. This time, the saffron camp had to contend with six seats. Debbarman’s TIPRA Motha took the lion’s share with 13 seats and the remaining seat also went to a regional party, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of the BJP.
In 2018, IPFT won eight of these seats.
With TIPRA Motha’s primary poll plank of a “constitutional solution” to the demand for a separate state for the natives of Tripura, voters backed the party despite BJP’s pre-poll promises of greater autonomy and more powers through constitutional amendments.
“Today, the state is being ruled by a non-tribal party keeping all the legitimate demands of the tribal and indigenous people at bay. We have realised their (BJP’s) lies and betrayal and like our forefathers did, we have also promised ourselves to be loyal only to the royal family as they are the only ones who can protect us from the outsiders,” said Nilesh Kaloi, a resident of West Tripura district.
On the other hand, despite the coalition of the BJP and the IPFT returning to power for a second time in Tripura, both parties secured fewer seats when compared to their performance in 2018. While the BJP contested 55 seats and won 32, three less than in 2018; the IPFT won only one seat. The alliance won 43 seats in the 2018 election.
While the Communist Party of India-Marxist won 11 and its ally Congress won three, the Trinamool Congress won none of the 28 seats it contested. Its vote share stood at 0.88 per cent, less than those who stamped None-Of-The-Above (NOTA).
Similarly, in Meghalaya, the Conrad Sangma-led National Peoples’ Party (NPP) and BJP allies may be all set to take charge of power for the second time, the silver lining for the regional forces in the poll was the emergence of the state’s newly formed regional party – the Voice of People’s Party (VPP).
Formed in 2021 and led by former Meghalaya MLA Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, the VPP contested 14 assembly seats this time and won four. Having “corruption” in the NPP-ruled Meghalaya government, the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and review of the proposed border solution with Assam as their primary poll planks, the VPP was campaigning with a promise to fight corruption and for the interests of the tribals.
Reacting to the results, Basaiawmoit told the media, “The national parties have undermined the power of locals. That’s why they are surprised by VPP’s performance. But we were certain of winning a good number of seats as we have done our work with the indigenous people of the state and we understand their pulse.”
However, unlike other regional parties of Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Peoples’ Democratic Front (PDF) as well as the United Democratic Party (UDP), who had backed the NPP to form the previous government in 2018, the VPP may likely prefer to sit in the Opposition.
“There is no question of us working together with the NPP whose hands were buried in massive corruption and scams,” Basaiawmoit clarified.
On Friday, the NPP chief claimed a stake in forming the next Meghalaya government with the ‘magic number’ seats in his tow. BJP, which has won only two seats, has already extended support to Conrad Sangma to form the next government in Meghalaya. Both parties, despite being the ruling ally in the last Meghalaya government, fought the election against each other. During poll campaigns, the BJP was charging the Sangma-led government for indulging in rampant corruption.
With NPP’s 26 and BJP’s two and Kartush R Marak, an independent legislator from Baghmara, who has extended support to an NPP-led coalition government, Sangma was just two seats short of the majority mark of 31 in the 60-member assembly.
It was speculated that Sangma may take support from HSPDP and PDF, the two regional parties which won two seats each and were a part of the previous government. However, Sangma may not take the help of the UDP, which was part of the outgoing government and emerged as the second-largest party in Meghalaya with 11 seats.
In the meantime, in Nagaland, where the ruling ally of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and BJP eased into victory on Thursday, at least four regional parties from outside the state managed to grab a grip in the state this election.
The four regional parties that contested in the Nagaland elections were Janata Dal (United), which is Bihar’s state party, Chirag Paswan – led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Nationalist Congress Party, the largest opposition party in Maharashtra, and Republican Party of India (Athawale).
While the Nationalist Congress Party won seven seats, both Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the Republican Party of India (Athawale) claimed two seats each. The Janata Dal (United) secured one seat.
However, Nagaland’s and probably the region’s oldest regional party, the Naga People’s Front (NPF), which once ruled the state from 2003 to 2018, seemed to be losing its ground. The party suffered a major setback in this poll and could manage to win only two out of the 22 seats it contested. NPF was the single largest party in the 2018 elections in Nagaland when it won 26 seats.
The NDPP won 25 seats and the saffron party claimed 12 to cross the majority mark of 31 in the 60-member House in Nagaland.
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