Meghalaya and beyond

The fine print of the recent elections to the three North-East states confirms the Congress-isation of the BJP. The BJP's non-involvement for years in the conflicts on India's eastern frontier made it easy for it to position itself in extremely simplistic political terms as an anti-dote to the Congress. It began with Arunachal Pradesh where the unexplained suicide of a former CM alleging high-level corruption in government formation is not a part of the BJP's usual preening about its anti-corruption credentials. In between, there was Manipur where candidates considered untouchable and denied the party ticket became ministers. 

From Arunachal Pradesh to Manipur, and now in Meghalaya and Nagaland, the BJP has used the opportunist’s rulebook for somehow getting into the driver's seat. The BJP could not cobble a joint declaration with its alliance partner in Tripura because it is steadfast in its demand for a separate state. In Nagaland, it played both sides of the fence and then picked the one with the higher number of legislators; never mind that after two years, it has been unable to put up the classified Naga agreement for public viewing. In Meghalaya, with just two seats to boast of, it played the kingmaker with its bag of tricks and opportunistic stabling with parties aggressively seeking the redrawing of boundaries with neighbouring states, also controlled by the BJP.

In tactical political battles, political parties tend to soft-peddle the virtues of ethics and principles. But the BJP seems to have even dropped its core belief and value systems — emphasis on Sanskrit and Hindi, ban on beef, and the broadside against Muslims and Pakistan — which have all been unrelentingly foisted on the disinclined in the mainland. An unscrupulous approach to power will complicate governance in the North-East where the BJP will have to grapple with pressing sub-local concerns, such as influx of contiguous tribes, overlapping claims for land, balancing the aspirations of identity and development among indigenous tribals and non-tribals. Rather than a healthy, incorruptible and forward-looking alternative, the BJP has cast itself in the same mould as its bête noire.