Congress President, Rahul Gandhi got a shot in the arm when three states that went to polls out of five went to their kitty. The grand old party celebrated the occasion with gay abandon. They after a longtime felt the wheels of fortune were turning. But amidst all the merriment what should bother Congress is the complete wipe out in the Northeast.
Compared to 2014 when the Congress was ruling 13 states including five in the Northeast, few months ahead of 2019 polls, the Congress stands completely wiped out in the region.
The Mizo National Front uprooted Congress returning to power after a decade. Winning 26 seats of the 40 member state assembly, historically no party has been able to form government thrice in a row since 1987.
Trounced in both seats, outgoing CM Lal Thanhawla suffered defeats, including his home turf Serchip and Champai South constituency.
Last time the MNF got the mandate to rule was assembly elections in 1998 and 2003.
The MNF is best known for its role in signing the Mizo Accord in 1986 with the Centre renouncing secession and violence.
It is now a constituent of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), formed by the BJP.
Expert commentary revolves around two factors. One the trouncing of Congress is the biggest defeat in the state since 1998. And this snatches the Congress’ last bastion from their clutch.
Interestingly the fortunes of the Congress nosedived in Northeast from 2016 when the BJP beat them in their own den Assam. BJP tasted sweet success with a landslide victory in Assam to oust Tarun Gogoi’s 15-year-old government. That turned BJP into an unstoppable juggernaut, only to take the party from one win to the other.
In Manipur and Meghalaya, Congress failed to make the cut for BJP’s political maneuvering.
Three-time former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio returned to power in Nagaland but he stepped down from power in 2014. Eventually he played the brain behind creation of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). Rio brokered an alliance with the BJP before the NPF. Even before counting could be started former CM Neiphiu Rio was elected unopposed yet again in March this year.
Meanwhile in Tripura Manik Sarkar saw a bitter defeat of the Communist Party recently after twenty-five odd years.
The Congress lost power in Arunachal Pradesh through defection, which, in turn, propelled the BJP to power in Arunachal Pradesh.
Even as political temperature heats up each passing day, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal playing soothsayer has predicted a win in all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the Northeast in 2019 general elections. He was speaking to the media at the state BJP headquarters located in Tripura.
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