EGOS MATTER, NOT NUMBERS

For the Arunchalese, there is no feel good factor in the events that culminated in the return of Gegong Apang as Chief Minister and his donning the saffron mantle. It is all old wine in a new bottle. Some say even the bottle is old, picked up from the wayside. End result is same.  Neither politics nor ideologies matter. Not even the all-pervasive concern for political stability. It is thrown through the guesthouse window.

Yes, no tear is shed for the vanquished, Mukut Mithi. It is not a surprise.
Revenge was underlying theme of the political drama the state witnessed. Like in a Bollywood Blockbuster.

Gegong Apang was the chief minister for record 22-years. He still has craving for power and more power. Ask him, why? His reply: To bring happiness to my people. To set a new record in Governance!

Undeniably, he was guided as much by anger. He has scores to settle, debts to repay. Mukut Mithi was his trusted lieutenant at one time. Over taken by events he staged a silent coup four years ago.  The going has been smooth for Mithi. But coming under Jamir spell, he spoiled his copybook, according to North-East watchers.

The countdown began on Mithi regime the day he challenged Delhi over IM factor. Apang stepped on the stage. And the rest is history.

The shadow play saw the Congress and the BJP jump into the fray in support of their protagonists. Tempers rose.  Itanagar drama became national interest.

While the Congress raised a hue and cry over the developments in Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP went about its task quietly and systematically. Of course, the fact that Delhi darbar is on its side helped matters, and quickened the pace of events.

For Gegong Apang, it was, however, ‘Mission Revenge’. With the BJP on his side, there was no stopping him.

This was not the first time that a political coup of such nature took place in the North-East. Given the fragile nature of the equations and clanships, it will not be the last one either. Here is a region, where numbers in the assembly do not matter. No government is stable. Personal ambitions and equations only count. And determine the people’s wishes.

No surprise the birth and death of political parties is almost an every day phenomenon. There is no party, which has escaped the curse of splits. Mighty parties like APHLC and Mizo Union have simply disappeared. Clones of national parties appear by the night only to disappear by the day of course depending upon the fortunes of the parent in Delhi. Like it happened in the case of Janata party.

Says S C Jamir, erstwhile strongman of Nagaland: “the Anti-defection law as its stands now is not relevant to our situation. We have small parties. Our assembly strength is also not big. The one-third rule for a split is no barrier for our enterprising politicians to stage a cross over.”

Delhi is never known to appreciate the North-East nuances. So the Jamir cry for an end to horse-trading goes unnoticed. And the mortality rate among political parties goes unchecked.

Only last year, the Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP) disappeared without a bang. All the seven MLAs of the party switched their allegiance to the Congress. That MSCP is a breakaway Congress is a different matter. 

It will be patently unfair, according to a Left intellectual, to put all the blame for the growth of regional sentiments and parties in the region at the doorstep of the Congress, which ruled the country for four decades.

This Bengali with roots in Sylhet and Cachar argues: “The Congress is no angel in shining white armour. It has its black spots. Our regional politics have a unique dynamism. These are shaped by our clan loyalties and individual ambitions. That is why the emergence of new states out of Assam has not solved our backwardness”.

Recent developments however put a question mark over the longevity of regional parties. Not long ago, the AGP was in power in Assam, the Manipur Peoples Party (MPP) was in Imphal’s driver seat, NPC leader Vamuzo was heading Nagaland’s ruling alliance. Local parties were calling the shots in Meghalaya. Today where are they? Only Mizoram and Nagaland are under the spell of regional parties. Even these parties are known to enjoy cozy equations with the BJP despite the veneer of regionalism.

Political scientists are still grappling with why regional parties have lost their face and base. The AGP is no longer a party close to the heart of the Assamees. The party drew a blank in the last two Lok Sabha elections.  The Manipur People’s Party (MPP), the oldest party in the region, has only a signboard left in Imphal.  Gegong Apang-led Arunachal Congress has merged with the BJP. Tripura Upajati Yuba Samiti (TUJS) was forced to merge with IPF for sheer survival.

After leaving the Congress and forming the MSCP, T. Chauba Singh had confidently predicted that national parties like the Congress and the BJP had virtually no future in the North-East. It’s curtains down for them, he remarked. . “As the country has entered the coalition era and the bigger political parties begin to depend on smaller parties, regional outfits like the MSCP will be able to fulfill regional aspirations by extracting an extra pound of flesh from the big brothers in the trade off,” Chauba opined.

But where are Chauba and MSCP today? MSCP, the advocate of powerful regional groups has merged its identity with the BJP after finding no future in Manipur.  It could have emulated the TDP example and extended outside support to Vajpayee government at national level and survived.

Some may say its numbers in the Lok Sabha were behind TDP’s success; It may be true but not all the truth. MSCP failed because it could never put up a united face like the TDP. The party was so divided from the beginning that it could hardly present the case of Manipur to the Centre. Moreover, at one point of time, the MSCP Government became a liability for the NDA bosses rather than an asset with demand for President’s rule from all quarters to stem the rot that had set in with the failure of chief minister W. Nipamacha Singh, a founder of the MSCP, on all fronts.

Same was the case with the AGP. The party was a partner in V. P. Singh Government. But the party failed to mount pressure on the V. P. Singh Government to implement Assam Accord without any delay. Like the MSCP, the AGP too was faction-ridden. Factionalism within the party reached to such a height that its representative in the Union Cabinet, the late Dinesh Goswami once resigned from the cabinet.   The AGP got another chance during United Front’s regime. But the party once again failed to grab that opportunity.

Infighting, lust for power, nepotism and poor leadership are the reasons for the downfall of regional parties in the North-East. Prafulla Mahanta showed less interest in governance and more keenness in expelling Bhrigu Phukan and Atul Bora from AGP and thus gaining absolute control over the party. He did not resign as party chief after becoming the chief minister. 

W. Nipamacha Singh and T. Chauba Singh fell out over who should control the party machinery.   Ignoring the mounting problems of the State, the two were engaged in a fierce battle to decide who had more say in the organisational set up —President  ( Nipamacha) or the Working President (Chaoba).

Take the case of Arunachal Congress. It was floated by Gegong Apang after severing ties with the parent, Congress. He did not like the way the high command was dictating terms to him. All the Congress MLAs migrated to the new party.  Apang soon closed ranks with the BJP and joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).  His son Omak was rewarded with a ministerial berth in the Vajpayee government. But his close lieutenants did not take kindly to his projecting the son. They ganged hp and dethroned him. Electoral setback had sealed his fortunes for a while. Now luck appears to smile on him once again.

There are many such instances, where the leaders of the regional political parties fought against their own party men neglecting the interest of their states. This has hampered not only development but also thwarted implementation of key planks like the Assam Accord. Political instability continues to haunt the seven plus one states. And the region remains on the boil. But who cares? Not the local satraps? Not even the Delhi Netas?  There in lies the rub.