What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
BJP’s North East project continues to reap rich electoral dividends. It’s time to take a look at how the BJP has bettered its performance in the region.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has returned to Power in Tripura despite offloading its coalition partner IPFT and going solo. It is all set to retain power in Nagaland with its major ally NDPP of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. It has improved its performance in Meghalaya and will play a crucial role in government formation if the incumbent Chief Minister Conrad Sangma wishes to form the government. Sangma is left with very few options in government formation. His going along with Congress to Mukul Sangma- led TMC looks highly unlikely. This gives BJP enough room to manoeuvre
The North-East project of the BJP has reaped rich electoral benefits not merely because of the realpolitik of finding the right alliance partners and defusing tense situations with trouble-making elements thanks to the negotiating skills of the maverick Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has deftly handled the delicate balance of different interest and pressure groups in the North-East.
All these hectic political activities on-ground were backed by an extensive financial and infrastructural upgradation of this largely neglected region. Recently, the Centre approved the continuation of schemes of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) with an outlay of Rs 12,882 crore for the balance period of the 15th Finance Commission (2022-23 to 2025-26).
Last year, while addressing the golden jubilee celebration of the North East Council (NEC) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Polo Ground) in Shillong the Prime Minister said his government was investing Rs seven lakh crore to develop the infrastructure in the northeastern region even as the spending for the region was mere Rs two lakh crore since the independence of the country.
In the run up to the elections in the three states, PM Modi during his visits laid the foundation stones of projects worth more than Rs 6,800 crore. These projects encompassed a wide array of sectors, including housing, road, agriculture, telecom, IT, tourism and hospitality. The new campus of IIM Shillong at Umsawli was also inaugurated before the elections. Several road projects were started, as well.
Since coming to power in 2014 the Modi government has sanctioned 19 projects, for a budget of Rs 77,930 crores to connect the NE region with the national rail grid. As per media reports, the BJP-led Centre has converted 900 km of railway tracks to broad gauge in Tripura. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) plans to invest over Rs 95,261 crore on 21 projects in the NE region. It would include connecting the capitals of three Northeast states – Manipur (Imphal), Mizoram (Aizawl), and Meghalaya (Shillong) – by 2023 to the national railway network.
The sense of alienation that the people of North East has been largely dealt with embalming language by the Prime Minister, who brought in a paradigm change in the way North-East is spoken about in the mainstream media. Instead of calling it the geographical fag end of India, the PM rephrased it as an “gateway to doing business in India”.
The integration was also a result of the several peace accords signed to deal with border disputes and separatist tendencies.
Assam-Meghalaya Inter-State Boundary Agreement – a landmark agreement was signed on March 29, 2022, to settle the dispute over six areas out of a total of twelve areas of the interstate boundary dispute between the states of Assam and Meghalaya. This agreement alone resolved around 65 per cent of border disputes between the two states.
Due to ethnic violence in the western part of Mizoram in October 1997, a large number of minorities Bru (Reang) families migrated to North Tripura in 1997-1998. An agreement was signed on January 16, 2020, to resolve the 23-year-old Bru-Reang refugee crisis by which more than 37,000 internally displaced people are being settled in Tripura.
The Bodo Accord, Bru-Reang Agreement, National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Agreement, Karbi Anglong Agreement, and Assam-Meghalaya Inter-State Boundary Agreement have led to significant improvement in the security situation of the Northeast.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been reduced from a large part of the North East, fulfilling the long-standing and sentimental demand of the North Eastern states. In Nagaland, disturbed area notifications were removed from 15 police stations in seven districts. In Tripura and Meghalaya. AFSPA has been completely withdrawn.
BJP’s North East project is a testament to the fact that electoral gains are not always a product of playing up faultlines and keeping old wounds alive. Positive, development-oriented politics can yield the right results as well.
