Congress in the NE
It is time for soul-searching

At the beginning of this decade, the Congress was in power in six states of the North-Eastern region and was preparing itself to wrest power in Assam, which was then ruled by a regional outfit Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). At that time, when the Congress lost its hold over the cow belt, i.e. northern India, many political observers predicted that in the coming years along with the southern part of the country, the North-East would help the century-old party maintain its prominent position in the Indian politics. According to their calculations, the other side of the Vindhya and the Seven Sisters together would help the party to reach a figure of more or less 150 seats in Parliament, which would not be enough for grabbing power at the Centre, but would definitely keep it in the reckoning.

But in the last nine years, the party seemed to be fast losing its popularity in the North-East region. Quite contrary to the expectations of the political observers, in 1999, the party is ruling only one State in the region. Barring Nagaland, all other States in the region are being ruled by the regional parties at present. What is more alarming is the fact that except for Assam, popularity of the oldest political party of the country has nose-dived to its lowest ebb and there is virtually no sign of it making any retreat. This fact was evident from the Assembly elections in Mizoram when despite the party's changing fortune in three northern states, the ruling Congress faced reverses.

While some feel that time has come for the Congress to do some soul-searching if the party is really interested in keeping its North-Eastern bastion intact, leaders like S. C. Jamir, the Nagaland Chief Minister, pooh-poohed the apprehensions that his party had lost its grip over the region. He felt that the North-Eastern populace had always supported the Congress and would continue to do so in future too. He was of the firm belief that the regional parties were not competent to meet the aspirations of the North-Eastern people and this fact would be dawned very soon which would automatically see the return of the party to power in the North-Eastern states. Mr. Jamir was also confident that the Congress leaders, who have deserted the party and joined hands with the regional outfits would soon rejoin the parent party once their honeymoon with the regional parties is over.

It is not unexpected from working president of the Manipur State Congress (MSC) Chauba Singh to hold just the opposite views. According to him, as the coalition era has come to stay in India, only a regional outfit can bargain more for its people from the Centre. Talking about his experiences while in the Congress, he claimed that there were very few opportunities to draw the attention of the Congress party leaders towards the problems of Manipur. Even in the Lok Sabha, Chauba Singh feels a member of a big political party such as Congress rarely gets the chance to highlight the problems of his constituency or to participate in an important debate. But these problems did not come in case of being a nominee of a regional party. He was categorical in saying that to meet the aspirations of the Manipuri people his party was supporting the BJP-led coalition ministry at the Centre. He said that his party would not hesitate to withdraw its support from the Central Government if it deviates from its goal of removing regional imbalances.

Without entering into the debate which party or combination is capable to meet the hopes and aspirations of the North-Eastern people, it can be safely argued that the Congress which is undoubtedly the largest political party in the country had failed to redress the grievances of the North-Easterners. It may sound a little harsh but the fact remains that the party never addressed itself seriously to removal of the backwardness of the region despite given overwhelming support by the region in several past elections.

How indifferent has been the party's approach towards the region can be ascertained from the fact that after the AGP reduced the party to pulp in the 1986 assembly elections in Assam, the then Congress president the late Rajiv Gandhi, formed a committee to find out the causes of the Congress rout. The committee was specifically asked to examine the fact why the longest surviving political party in the country could not withstand the 'onslaught' by a new-born regional political party. But the committee could not submit its report and got virtually defunct after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination as his successors did not show any interest to look for the causes of historic Congress debacle in Assam.

The main problem with the Congress is that the party never adopted policies and programmes which might benefit the people of the North-East region. The party was always dependent on its government at the Centre to do something for the region. The party was always interested in policies which would make its bases stronger in other parts of the country rather than in the North-East.

As a result, in 1995, when the party lost in two southern states Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the Congress leadership instantly formed committees to ascertain the causes. But not a single word of praise came for the Arunachal Pradesh unit of the party, which managed to retain power in the State by getting two-thirds majority in the State assembly. Similarly, when each and every Congress member was upbeat over the recently concluded Assembly election results in three northern states and started dreaming of ruling India once again, no Congress leader spared a thought for the Party's rout at the hustings in Mizoram.

There are many such incidents to establish the Congress's apathy towards the region. It goes to the credit of the North-Easterners that despite the neglect they have always stood by the side of the Congress at the time of need, especially when the unity and integrity of the country come into question.

It is time now for the Congress to chalk out North-East oriented policies and programmes so that its roots, which are currently under the threat of losing ground can be restrengthened. Otherwise the party will lose its status of being a national party in true sense.