Surplus BJP ticket seekers
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 04, 2021 -

THE BJP and its NEDA partners clean sweeping all the assembly seats in three north-eastern states where by-elections were held on October 30 and results declared on Tuesday, has yet again demonstrated the tapering off of the non-NDA/NEDA political parties in the northeast region.

From the national perspective, results of the by-elections held in "a total of 13 states showed a rather mixed mandate by the adult franchisees as was evident from the Congress performing better in the BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka, and the ruling Trinamool Congress outclassing its opponents in West Bengal.

However, BJP along with NEDA partners MNP and NPP bagging all the assembly constituencies in Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya where the by-elections were conducted has made it crystal clear that the northeast people generally favour those parties which are either holding the rein of power in New Delhi or are allies of the incumbent government.

Such a trend of electing candidates fielded by the ruling parties has been perennial in the northeast region, where almost all the states rely heavily on the patronage of the Union government.

Ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP and its allies have been successful in the gradual decimation of the Congress, among other parties, in its erstwhile political bastion.

With the BJP either installing own governments in the north-eastern states or sharing power with the NEDA partners in some of Christian-dominated states like Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya, the saffron party has been successful in giving the impression to the northeast denizens that its presence in the region wouldn't wither anytime soon.

The BJP juggernaut and its aura of invincibility in the region at the juncture might be one of the reasons for some prominent faces of the Naga People's Front, another IMEDA affiliate, from Chandel district joining the Saffron party on Tuesday.

Among other factors, the latest group of political turncoats embracing the BJP ideology seem to have emboldened chief minister N Biren to remark that there is no guarantee that the party's sitting MLAs would be re-allotted the party's ticket for the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly elections due in the first quarter of 2022.

Moreover, his assertion that award of BJP ticket would be based on the intending candidates proving his/her genuine connection with the people at the ground level corroborates that the leading party in the coalition government would be facing a tough challenge in screening potential winners and triggering frenzied campaigning among the ticket aspirants to impress the leaders.

It could also be safely predicted that the ticket seekers would not waste much time in shifting allegiance as and when they realise that the ticket deciders wouldn't favour him/her.

As it is obvious that sitting BJP MLAs wouldn't forego their political ambition even if they are denied party's ticket, the run-up to the assembly polls would see increasing number of turncoats as had been the trend in the state.

Regardless of his reminder that BJP firmly believes in the ideology of'nation first, party second and individual third', such a principle would be worthless for those who have already spent wealth and time in trying to impress the party leaders to secure the 'magic' ticket.