By Monalisa Changkija (EMN)
Elections to the Nagaland Assembly are slated for February 2018 and the same drama played out on the eve of every such election has already begun, since June 2016, actually ~ albeit with a small difference. Normally, batches of people join and “support” the party in power basically because (1) the ruling party has the “maximum purchasing”, (2) a cursory look at the “support” the ruling party garners on the eve of Assembly elections indicate Nagas’ predilection to be on the winning side. However this time, there aren’t too many indications that the ruling party, the Naga People’s Front, leading the DAN Government, for almost fifteen years, is able to garner as much “support” and swell its ranks, as much as it would like to because of rifts within the party, and because the Centre hasn’t loosened the purse-strings. Well, with the BJP at the Centre, nothing is the same anymore in the Northeast, perhaps especially in the Northeast.
But first thing first ~ with the impending Assembly elections, party time has begun in Nagaland with the launch of the Nagaland Congress (NLC) on June 21, 2016, by some former members of the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), which commits “to provide suitable political platform, aspiring leadership and public participation toward preserving, protecting and promoting the inbuilt identity, autonomy and welfare of Nagaland state by being ‘national in outlook and regional in content’”. NLC’s claimed objectives are “to provide transparency in governance and accountability to the public … to give all-round development and equal opportunities to the people of Nagaland”, …“to reform Nagaland, safeguard the rights of Nagas, to make it free from corruption and clean the electoral roll”, “strive for unification of all Naga inhabited areas under a single administrative unit, to protect the rights and privileges of minorities living in Nagaland … to promote and safeguard the traditions and rich cultural heritage of Nagas”, … “to support the Indo-Naga peace process for early settlement which should be acceptable to all sections of the people and it would respect the sentiments of every section of community and extend solidarity as and when needed”.
On May 17 last, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was launched “In response to the feelings of the masses, who strongly desire for formation of a new political organization …” stated its emailed press release. The resolutions passed in its general meeting are pretty much as same as any other political party in Nagaland viz. “to strengthen the peace process and contribute towards realization of early, honourable and wholesome resolution of the Naga political problem …”, “… strengthen the democratic principles at all levels of society and oppose corruption, violence and injustice”, “.. stand for transparency, strive for respect of human rights and dignity, protect freedom of speech and expression, work for upliftment of weaker and marginalized sections of society, uphold gender equality and endeavour to protect our rich cultural heritage”, “combat social evils and work towards a society that recognizes merit, promotes innovation, supports creativity and allows art to flourish … strive for emergence of the people’s voice, the realization of the people’s aspirations … reflect the desire and will of the masses” and “… be regional in spirit, national in outlook and act in accordance with global issues and concerns that include protection of the environment and responsible actions towards climate change” and opened its doors “for all those who aspire to work for the people and are willing to make efforts towards resolution of the political conflict and contribute towards bringing early and honorable political solution in the greater interest of all sections of society”.
A cursory look at the new parties’ objectives indicate bankruptcy of ideas of Nagaland’s political class, as all political parties here offer the same menu. And it’s doubtful if there really is “the feelings of the masses, who strongly desire for formation of a new political organization” ~ if there is, which “masses”, seeing that most people here are unimpressed with our political class, as reflected in local newspapers, social media and private conversations. The new parties also haven’t articulated road-maps to achieve their objectives, Besides, they were formed mainly by three categories of people – (a) the has-beens of the Congress and NPF the electorate rejected hence have become redundant to the parties they belonged but are desperate for a come-back, (b) still very powerful politicos but side-lined by their parties and thirsting to drink from the well of power, and, (c) former retired government servants, who have seemingly amassed a sizeable amount of wealth and want a big bite of the political pie.
But their potential to upset the NPF’s apple-cart cannot be discounted ~ (1) because of NPF’s incessant in-fighting due to its failure to discipline its power and money-hungry elected members and its prioritization to hold on to power then on governance resulting in Nagaland’s under-development; (2) inability to make the Centre loosen the purse-strings, (3) allowing itself to be dictated and cowered down by muscle-flexing NGOs and civil societies, which have forced their imprint on governance here, (4) failure to infuse fresh blood in the party, (5) more focus on spreading it tentacles in neighbouring states than on issues plaguing Nagaland, ~ actually the list is quite endless but then the NPF of the last fifteen years comprises of quite a few runaways from the Congress Party since 2003.
And then there is the BJP, which is making very inconspicuous but equally confident inroads into Nagaland, facilitated by the NPF’s alliance with it in the DAN coalition, which gave the BJP the foothold it needed into the inner sanctum of Nagaland’s political arena. Two, the BJP has the money, which makes muscle power more accessible. Three, possibly and probably at least one of the newly launched political parties here is the BJP’s handiwork, and/or if and when some from these two parties win, they look kindly towards the BJP seeing that the BJP is reportedly of the opinion that it doesn’t matter who wins the election but who forms the government ~ and we all know how governments are formed, at least in Nagaland.
Then there are the non-state actors here, who have inexorably always dictated and decided over-ground politics, not least government formation. Unofficial electoral history indicates that over-ground politics is dependent on non-state actors to win elections and form the government. The incestuous relationship among over-ground, underground and middle-ground politics is a volume by itself, deserving dedicated research to understand Nagaland’s political history. Moreover, from past accounts, electoral victory and government formation here is inevitably dependent on money and muscle power ~ with few exceptions though. Who will win the elections and form the next government in Nagaland? Well, the Congress Party has marginalized itself so the fight is mainly between the NPF and the BJP but now with the entry of two new political parties, your guess is as good as mine. Still, because of the entry of the two new political parties, the BJP could have the upper hand ~ and it has been working hard to get the upper hand. Then there is the matter of the Chief Minister’s election by this August, which could change the entire electoral scenario impacting the next elections.
