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North East : Saffron flag in Arunachal Pradesh

	September 01, 2003

Even though BJP has suffered a set back in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh which is considered a barometer of Indian polity, the party should have some consolation as its flag is now seen flying not only at the Centre, but also in the remote North East where the party last week got the state of Arunachal Pradesh on a platter, thanks to horse-trading and defections to which most Indian politicians generally resort to remain in power.

Whatever question marks were there over the admission of Chief Minister Gegong Apang into the BJP were finally removed on August 30 when the party central leadership in New Delhi gave a green signal for Apang to join the BJP, which means he would continue to remain as Chief Minister owing allegiance to the BJP.

Earlier during the week, the BJP’s state unit, after much deliberation, had decided to accept Apang “in principle”, but the central leadership was hesitant as a section of the BJP was reportedly against Apang’s entry into the party. But the BJP high command obviously did not want to lose one the most sensitive states in the North East which was being offered on a platter, and they finally decided to give green signal to Apang.

Apang, who was enrolled as a BJP member at a simple function organised at the party headquarters in the state, later told newspersons that he and his colleagues have joined the saffron party for the development of Arunachal Pradesh and to strengthen the unity of the country. He vowed to “fulfil the dream of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of bringing the north-eastern region into the national mainstream”.

“We will leave no stone unturned to fulfil the dream of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of bringing the north-eastern region into the national mainstream,” Apang said.

The chief minister was welcomed into the party fold by Union Minister of State for Home Swami Chinmayanand, party vice-president Pyarelal Khandelwal and general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi at the BJP central office.

Apang rode back to power in late July toppling the Congress Government headed by Mukut Mithi after 38 of the 56 Congress legislators defected from the party and formed the Congress (D). The 38 Congress deserters, along with two Independents and one unattached MLA, formed the UDF, headed by Apang of the Arunachal Congress and staked claim to form the government.

Apang was sworn in as chief minister on August 3, after Mithi lost the vote of confidence by voice vote the previous day.

The United Democratic Front (UDF) Government in the state now has 32 BJP, six Congress (D), two Independents and one unattached legislator.

Interestingly, the BJP has not even a single elected member in the State Assembly. The Speaker Sena has recognised the plea of the 31 Congress (D) legislators to be treated as BJP members in the Assembly after five of them changed their mind about joining the BJP and remained in their parent party with Fisheries Minister J. Takam. They have, however, decided to remain in the government and extend full support to the BJP-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in the state.

With the coup in Arunachal Pradesh, the four states in the region, including Sikkim, Mizoram, and Nagaland, now support the NDA coalition at the Centre.

Taking stock of the “progress’’ made by the BJP in the North-East, where its presence was negligible till a few years ago, the party spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar, said the BJP now had 57 MLAs in eight States of the North-East, including Assam. While in Arunachal Pradesh the party now had a majority Government - after 36 MLAs of the State elected on the Congress ticket defected to the BJP - in Nagaland, the party was a coalition partner. Even in Mizoram and Sikkim, the regional parties ruling there were supporters of the National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre, Javadekar said.

In yet another case of defection, the party said that five members of the North Kachar Autonomy Council in Assam had defected from the Congress to the BJP. In Assam, the BJP has about a dozen MLAs. The party feels that the good intentions of the Vajpayee Government and its policy of trying to bring the North East into the mainstream of development were paying off. The earlier antipathy towards the BJP felt by the people of the region, where Christianity is one of the dominant religions, is no longer a major negative factor for the party.

The BJP’s star in the North-east has been shining since February when the party made its debut, winning seven seats in the Nagaland Assembly elections and together with its allies ousted the Congress from power amidst allegations that its success was largely due to the help it received from the NSCN (I-M).

In between its entry into the Nagaland Assembly and assumption of power in Arunachal Pradesh (the name of the government being UDF notwithstanding), the party had also scored a small but significant victory - again, like in Arunachal Pradesh, not through the ballot - in the North Cachar Hills District Autonomous Council when it wooed five Independents to don saffron. Till then, the BJP had no member in the Council.

The BJP’s aggressive foray into the North-east has obviously sent alarm bells ringing within the Congress, which still leads coalition governments in Meghalaya and Manipur besides independently ruling Assam. While the party may not be easy to topple in Assam, the same cannot be said of Manipur and Meghalaya given the fickleness of the smaller parties in these two states.

The birth of the non-Congress and non-Left North East People’s Forum comprising some regional and national parties including the BJP could be another matter of concern for the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections slated for next year.