Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'BJP dominates in the NorthEast' that was published in Newsband

BJP dominates in the NorthEast

Bharatiya Janata Party performed well in Tripura, which sends only two members to the Lok Sabha. It rose from zero to 35 seats in the 60-member Assembly in five years by beating the Left Front, its strongest ideological opponent. BJP’s another achievement was the victory in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of members to the Lok Sabha. in Tripura, one witnessed the collapse of the Congress vote-bank. The anti-Left, anti-incumbency vote, which includes the tribal vote, has moved completely to the BJP.

Left lost in Tripura, where it ruled for 25 years. The BJP has something to cheer about in Nagaland as well: it won 11 seats and is in a position to form a government with the support of its ally, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party. In Meghalaya, the Congress managed to emerge as the single largest party, but the BJP, with two members, is helping the National People’s Party form the government.

The vote for BJP is also a vote for a change. It is now for the BJP to fulfil the aspirations of common people in the NorthEast. It is also a fact that no previous parties except BJP talked about the development of that region. The NorthEast is completely neglected region and needs development like other India states.

Congress Culture, it appears, has been sensed by the citizen undoubtedly. Congress had a monopoly and it dreaded none but was proud of its tradition and took for granted that its secular mantra would work. Namo's call for Congress Mukto Bharat (Congress Free India) is very much topical these days.

BJP is led by a team of Modi, Amit Shah and their invisible inspiring team. They planned and executed their strategy excellently reminding one of the Chandra Gupta of Maurya dynasty. It was undoubtedly a great victory for BJP to have been able to establish a major party in Northern state

BJP’s win, and CPM’s defeat in Tripura, may be considered as a trend-setter by BJP supporters. Question here is whether decline of CPM has once again been underscored. Left parties, particularly CPM, are known for their ideology. Ideology alone may not fetch votes; hence it does not make CPM more eligible for a mandate in its favour. Let us not forget that in West Bengal (WB) the leftists were in power for almost three decades but still the state remained an industrially backward state. Leftists’ government did little to boost economy of WB. Trinamool Congress saw an opportunity in West Bengal to expose hollowness of leftists’ ideology. There appears to be a similarity in Tripura where BJP has now dethroned the leftists - here rightists’ ideology has succeeded in exposing leftists’ ideology. Would CPM leaders do a critical self-examination after a massive defeat in Tripura Assembly election? Then, would it be of any assistance in future in WB, Kerala and elsewhere?

Left is now left only in Kerala. When you follow an imported ideology, this is bound to happen.