As the election commission set into motion the process to elect new governments in three northeast states – Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland – BJP's ‘look east’ policy will be put to test. After winning Assam, the BJP has been putting its energies in the region looking for allies and building organisation.
Among the three states, the contest in Tripura will be the most watched. The two-decade-old Left citadel firmly held by Manik Sarkar is being challenged by the BJP which is raking governance issues telling people that state was lagging far behind when rest of the BJP states have surged far ahead. BJP has been consistently working in the state for the past years, holding agitations, rallying women, employees to target Sarkar government.
Like other states where BJP did not have an organisation, it has been poaching on sitting MLAs from other parties to create its election team. In Tripura it has already brought six Trinamool MLAs to its side. Party has deputed its general secretary Ram Madhav and Assam finance minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma to engage with other leaders, while on the ground Sunil Deodhar, who is in charge of the party, has been running the show.
In Tripura, the BJP is likely to form an alliance with a faction of Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), which has significant hold among the Tribals. As BJP was wooing them, Sarkar had accused the BJP of tie-up with the separatists.
After the alliance would come the carpet bombing of rallies by the top BJP leadership led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be campaigning there as he belongs to Nath community which has a significant presence in the state. Modi is expected to address rallies on January 31.
After Tripura, BJP is pinning hopes on Nagaland and Meghalaya. In Nagaland it already had an alliance with the ruling Naga People’s Front, which the latter had been threatening to quit. However, as there are several factions, some of the leaders from this party may contest in alliance with the BJP.
Similarly in Meghalaya, where Christians are in majority, the BJP has a problem in creating a foothold because of its strong Hindutva image. Here even BJP's allies like Sangma's National People’s Party are contesting alone so that it does not face a backlash. Meghalaya is one of the few states ruled by the Congress.
But forming governments even goes beyond the election results as the BJP had proved in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur as it got MLAs from other parties to form the government. Congress was caught napping.
