The clear mandate in favour of the Congress party heading the UPA government at the Centre is a great opportunity for the Indian National Congress to embark on its mission to develop India into a peaceful and prosperous country. The fact that the Congress not only emerged as the single largest party but ended up with 206 seats goes to show the groundswell of support it enjoys across the country. The mandate of the 2009 Parliamentary Election is an indication of the revival of the Congress party and therefore it is also expected that this mandate will carry greater responsibility and expectation from the people. It is also not without significance that the Congress has managed to get 13 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats from the Northeast. The Congress is also in power in five northeastern states - Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram - while the Left Front, the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) and the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) have been ruling Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim respectively. Interestingly even the two regional outfit, the NPF and SDF have extended unconditional support to the Congress led UPA government, hoping to cash in on the goodwill of the Central government.
The Congress at the helms of power in Delhi will have to address problems faced by the people across India regardless of party affiliation. It cannot afford to play party politics when it comes to ensuring peace and development. Being a party of national recognition, it will have to look into the aspiration of all section of people, whether they are ruled by the Congress party or not. It is hoped that this will also be the case when it comes to tackling the myriad of problems facing the northeast. For one, the Congress must start to look for out of the box solutions. This will require greater political involvement especially when it comes to taking decisions on the ground. More often than not, the problems and affairs of the northeast is conveniently placed at the mercy of the security establishment so much so that political control over many aspect of policy matters remain under the mercy of the mandarin in the Home Ministry and Intelligence agencies. When such is the mode of functioning, grievances remain unresolved and this leads to further alienation of people from the mainstream. It is of outmost importance therefore to ensure a modicum of civilian control over the affairs of the region. Delhi must remain in touch with the ground reality and this it can do only if it curtails the power of the security establishment.
Coming to the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), since this is a separate ministry looking after the northeast region, great care must be taken to ensure that the right person is appointed to oversee the functioning of this all important portfolio. Past experience will suggest that it would be better if a more senior Minister (preferably from outside the region but having an in-depth knowledge of the northeast) is given charge of DoNER so as to bring in all the experience and political sagacity into this difficult role of managing the demands of the seven sisters besides Sikkim. During the last UPA government, Mani Shankar Aiyar did a good job as the DoNER Minister. A person with similar experience and knowledge of the region will be best suited to take charge of DoNER.
