Opinion - Editorials   

Gains for the congress

THE DEFEAT OF the ruling BJP in the elections to the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the fact that the ruling platforms in Tripura and Meghalaya have retained power and a hung Assembly in Nagaland are indeed reflective of the priority accorded by the voters in all these States to the record of the existing regimes in the area of governance. The verdict, particularly the rout of the ruling BJP in Himachal Pradesh, is also a rejection of the concerted attempts by the BJP and its other associates in the Sangh Parivar to vitiate the political atmosphere in the State by recourse to communal and sectarian passions. The BJP's campaign machine in Himachal Pradesh, after all, had pulled out all the stops in this regard and this was clearly evident from the fact that the party had fielded the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, to campaign extensively and also held out the promise to enact a ban on religious conversion if voted back to power. The BJP's target in this case was clearly Vidya Stokes, who seemed to be a possible choice as Chief Minister if the Congress wrested power in the State. Given these and the fact that the Sangh Parivar associates were raking up the Ayodhya controversy around the same time that the poll campaign was on, the resounding victory for the Congress marks a categorical turning away by the people in Himachal Pradesh from the BJP's revanchist agenda apart from being a clear message that the five-year regime of P. K. Dhumal had failed to deliver.

The verdicts from the three States in the Northeast — Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya — too are significant in this regard. Unlike in Himachal Pradesh, the ruling Left Democratic Front in Tripura has romped home for a third consecutive term. The victory, without doubt, is reflective of the record of the CPI (M)-led coalition headed by Manik Sarkar. The extent of violence witnessed in the State during the campaign and the issues that came up in the course of electioneering had put the ruling combine's political organisation to the test. Apart from the long history of conflict between the aspirations of the tribal majority and those who migrated to the State from neighbouring West Bengal, the poll campaign in Tripura was indeed vitiated because of a perception among a large section of the tribal youth it was denied the necessary space in the democratic institutions. The performance by the Left combine despite all these and its victory against the combined Opposition (consisting of the Congress and the INPT, an organisation that is widely perceived as the political wing of the banned militant outfit, the NLFT) is indeed reflective of the substantial following established by the CPI (M) and its allies across Tripura. The verdict in Tripura has also dispelled doubts over the choice of Mr. Sarkar (a non-tribal) as Chief Minister in the State in place of Dasrath Deb who had held the post until the last elections.

The verdicts from Nagaland and Meghalaya too are significant in the sense that the BJP's hopes of gaining from the anti-incumbency factor have been shattered. While the return to power of the Congress-NCP combine in Meghalaya suggests that parties, despite serious differences at the national level, can get together in a State and manage to govern, the gains by the NSCN (I-M)-supported Naga People's Front in Nagaland are significant in another context. The significant progress in the talks between the NSCN (I-M) and the Union Government and the association of the BJP with this had turned the State Assembly elections into a referendum on the peace process itself. The verdict, coming as it did in this larger context, has two significant messages. Apart from the fact that the people of Nagaland, by participating in an overwhelming manner in the poll process, had made it clear that any solution to the problem there will have to be within the constitutional framework, the voting also conveys a categorical message that the State Government needs to be accorded an important role in the peace negotiations in the days to come.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Gains for the congress
• The super sixes
• Portrait as mirror
• France puts up a fight
• American war and French fries
• 'India a major partner in fast-changing world'
• Unjustified hike
• Senior citizen, who?
• 'Another day... '

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu