The internal party politics of the political parties in Nagaland somewhat echoes the current divisions in the state on varying lines. Similar to the single largest party of the DAN alliance, the NPF party that was replete with crises in the current tenure, the tremor was also always felt by its other alliance partners, especially the BJP. The recent disqualification of some of its prominent members for protesting against the state president is one such instance of the deep rift that the party actually is witnessing internally. Some of the disqualified members actually were touted to have strong possibilities of winning in the next elections. Earlier too there were sudden changes of some of its office bearers in the state who were long time party workers.
The first crises was felt when the then three NCP MLAs merged with the BJP in 2014 but were disqualified by the Speaker based on the anti-defection law. Although the BJP was an alliance partner in the state, it was evident that the NPF party was threatened by the merger of the three NCP MLAs to the BJP making the tally to 4. The internal rift that was created during the transition of power between Neiphiu Rio and TR Zeliang is reported to be another reason in the disqualification of the newly merged BJP MLAs. It was an embarrassment for the newly elected Lok Sabha MP of the NPF because the NPF was and is an alliance partner of the BJP at the centre. On the other hand, the reprieve for the three MLAs came from the Gauhati High Court and they were reinstated in the assembly.
It is clear that although the NPF tactically keeps the BJP as an alliance partner, it is clear that there are many in the NPF who consider the growing popularity of the BJP as a threat in the region. The threats whether perceived or real is both political as well as religious. The majority of the population in the state who are predominantly Christian takes the BJP as a communal force. It was openly stated and also misused by all and sundry in public during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 that the NPF as an alliance partner of the BJP was also accused of the same “wrongdoings” as the BJP’s “communalistic agendas”. The then Congress party MLAs and workers also campaigned strongly against the NPF candidate during the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, especially alluding to its pre-poll alliance partner’s communal image. Sadly for the Congress, all eight of its Legislators in the state along with their respective party workers merged with the NPF. The Speaker this time cited the same Gauhati High Court’s order that reinstated the BJP MLAs not to suspend them. So just within a year after the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress Legislators who alleged the BJP of being communal made the BJP its bedfellow.
The divided house of the state BJP is starkly evident by the recent entry of its Political Affairs Committee into the scene, urging to reinstate the members that were removed recently. The committee also recommended the intervention from central leadership to save the party from in the state. The current state of affairs of the party in the state is so unlike the party of Modi and Shah at the centre. The local intricacies takes precedence in the state and the drama of the political parties both intra and inter is expected to only become more outrageous in the next few months.
