
By Sujit Chakraborty Agartala, June 14 (IANS) For a party which once dominated the political landscape in India's northeast, the Congress is today struggling to survive in the sprawling region, comprising eight states. The defection of six Congress legislators in Tripura to the Trinamool Congress -- which has reduced the party to the third spot in the state assembly -- is the latest jolt the country's oldest party has suffered in the northeast. Only last month, the Congress lost political control of Assam, the biggest state in the region, to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is confident of expanding its wings in the region -- in contrast to the feeble future the Congress stares at. "Organisational weakness and lack of leadership have seen the Congress in a bad shape in the northeastern states including Tripura," political analyst and writer Sanjib Deb told IANS. "After the BJP captured power for the first time in Assam, keeping this victory as a milestone, the party is in a jubilant mood in all the eight northeastern states and aims to step up its activities in the region," Deb told IANS. Earlier, in mid-February, the Congress government was toppled in Arunachal Pradesh. Rebel Congress legislator Kalikho Pul ousted Nabam Tuki to became Chief Minister with the support of 31 MLAs, including 18 dissident Congress members, 11 of the BJP and two independents. Fearing a similar rebellion, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma reportedly wrote to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi warning against "black sheep" in the state unit who are apparently in touch with BJP leaders. And, after Tripura, it was the BJP's turn to gave a political blow to the Congress in its Manipur bastion. In the June 2 elections to the politically important Imphal Municipal Corporation the Congress won 15 of the 27 seats and the BJP 10, while ndependents won two seats. The BJP has just one councillor in the outgoing Congress-led corporation. In northeast India today, Assam is ruled by the BJP, Tripura by the CPI-M dominated Left Front, Sikkim by the Sikkim Democratic Front, Nagaland by the Naga People's Front-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland and Arunachal by a rebel Congress and BJP coalition while the Congress rules the remaining three states -- Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Just six months ago, the Congress was in the saddle in five northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram.