Khriezo Yhome
Regional political parties have been making a resurgence in the Northeast lately, albeit confined in their respective states. Alternatively, can there be a new political direction? The announcement of a new political entity by leaders of various political parties from the region has re-ignited an idea that has long been a political enigma.
The place of launching the new political front was clearly to give it a nation-wide effect, but more importantly, it was also a political message directed towards political parties from outside the region to take the new Northeast political entity seriously.
Once a stronghold of the Congress, the Northeast witnessed a rapid rise of the BJP since Modi came to power a decade ago. In recent years, in particular, the aftermath of the Manipur crisis, the right-wing national party finds itself faced with the challenge of keeping its hold in the smaller Christian-majority states with signs of people going back to the old pattern of replacing a national party with another. To pre-empt this could be a possible rationale behind the formation of the new political entity. However, as an idea, ‘One North East’ has been a long-cherished desire among the political class of the region.
Not so long ago, with the slogan ‘One Voice, One Northeast’, the National People’s Party (NPP), led by its national president and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma, positioned itself as the voice of the Northeast in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In one of his election rallies, Sangma declared that his party would “push for a strong political voice from the region to safeguard the interests of the people of Northeast.” On another occasion the NPP leader stated: “We want to become a platform for the people of the Northeast to voice their concerns in parliament.” With Conrad Sangma at the centre of the formation of the new political entity, what he had in mind is now seeing the light of day.
The question that has long baffled people both within the region and outside is: What constitutes the idea of Northeast and what does it entail? As the name suggests, there is a strong geographical dimension to this notion. Located in a geographical part of the country gives it a regional identity as it does with other regions. However, the envisioning of this identity through the political lens has been a result of tensions over issues around culture, identity and political representation.
These issues are not new to the region. For decades they have defined the politics of the Northeast. In Assam, the issue of “illegal immigration” has long informed the political trajectory of the state. Likewise, the politics of identity and culture have shaped political interactions in most parts of the region and in their relations with the central government.
Even today, it is these issues that have allowed the new political entity to crystallise the idea to push forward a political agenda that is pan-Northeast in character and as a regional voice to create a new political narrative to unite the entire region.
The advent of the BJP in the region is closely associated with these regional tensions. In the 2019 elections, the issue of citizenship bill ignited the long-held view in the region of a perceived threat to the indigenous identities and cultures from outside the region. Translating this into a regional political agenda, the NPP’s thinking was driven by the realisation that if a pan-Northeast political party were to emerge, it was an opportune moment. Hence, the call for a “strong political voice” to air the concerns of the Northeast and to “safeguard” the interests of the people of the region.
At the crux of this idea is the need for a united political representation of the Northeast in parliament. The assumption is that bringing the different voices under one banner would be a more effective way to put pressure than a divided Northeast that remains insignificant and inaudible.
The origin of the idea of a pan-Northeast voice could be traced back to 2011 when former Lok Sabha speaker late P A Sangma, also the founder of NPP and father of Conrad Sangma, along with other political leaders from the region agreed to formed the North East Democratic Forum (NEDF) to “unitedly put pressure on the corridors of power in Delhi.”
When the NPP was founded in 2012, it became part of the NEDF that was rechristened North-East Regional Political Front (NERPF). As the Front expanded, it joined the BJP-led North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) in 2016. The Alliance soon met with roadblocks. The introduction of CAB by the BJP forced the NPP, along with other regional parties, to walk out of the alliance and subsequently, the NPP decided to fight the general elections on its own with anti-CAB position as its key election plank.
According to some accounts, late PA Sangma’s original conception of the NPP was driven more by the notion of tribal unity. He wanted the new party to be a tribal party with a national presence. Even as the Northeast would have been on the top of his mind, perhaps P A Sangma’s initial idea was not to restrict the party to the region, thereby keeping it open for tribal groups from other parts of the country to join the party.
This claim has some credence if one looks at how the forum emerged. Two tribal political leaders–––Nagaland chief minister Neiphu Rio and Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga of Mizo National Front (MNF)–––were present at the meeting where the idea first germinated. Even so, the Forum soon acquired a Northeast identity with other non-tribal political leaders joining the grouping from the region. After PA Sangma’s death in 2016, his son Conrad Sangma took on the mantle with the task of creating a pan-Northeast party.
That the Northeast needed a political platform that represents the entire region in the parliament has been a long-standing wish among people in the region cutting-cross states, political parties, ethnicity or religion. Evident from the formation of the new political entity positioning to give a voice to the political aspirations of the region.
A pan-Northeast regional political party is not only desirable but necessary. However, it is not without challenges. Assam has the largest number of parliamentary seats and this factor will play a determining role on any pan-Northeast party in terms of ensuring more seats to strengthen the party’s bargaining power with other national parties in government formation or in seeking portfolios at the centre. Resisting the tendency of a pan-Northeast party becoming Assam-centric, at the cost of other smaller states, will be a challenge.
Moreover, there are several intra-regional issues including boundary disputes and ethnic/state-based prejudices. The dream of a pan-Northeast political party representing the entire region will remain unfilled if these issues continue to divide the region. A pan-Northeast political party should also guard against old habits of regional political parties and politicians from the Northeast switching parties to join the party in power at the centre. Sooner rather than later, these issues will test the new political entity.
Today there is a political space and the new entity is trying to fill the vacuum in the Northeast region. By taking a strong position on the issue of land and culture, some elements of the party’s ideological underpinnings are spelled out. However, beyond standing up for regional issues, the party’s position on several other issues remains unclear. For the party to genuinely represent the region it would require building a vision on development, environment and even foreign policy issues that affect the region.
The idea that the Northeast could speak in one voice is now taking a step forward in the shape and form of a political party. It is too early to say what direction this political idea will take and how it will perform in electoral politics in the coming years. But one thing is clear, the idea ‘One North East’ is here to stay and will continue to shape the region’s political future.
The writer is a scholar with a research focus on Southeast Asian studies
