Looking at Mizoram and 2019 : BJP’s agenda for NE
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 22 2018 -

Arunachal Pradesh first, though by default. Then Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya and obviously the BJP has every reason to be on cloud nine.

Now it is Mizoram they are eyeing and if BJP president Amit Shah is to be believed, post Mizoram polls, then the North East will be Congress free or Congress Mukt, to use a phrase from the BJP.

A more than clear indication that the Karnataka drama has not dampened the spirit of the BJP leaders and if what happened at Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya is taken into account then Mizoram too may go the way of BJP or one of its allies.

As things stand right now, Mizoram is expected to go to polls by the end of this year and one can surely expect the BJP to go all out and rain the blows that will hurt Congress the most.

So what are the issues which may take centre stage at the neighbouring State ?

Tough to say but expect the BJP to pick any hole in the armoury of the Congress Government there and this is what will make the coming election all that more interesting.

Apart from being the last citadel of the Congress in the region, it will also go a long way in cementing the BJP in the North East.

And it stands that any party that does well in the Assembly elections is much better placed to send its candidate to the Lok Sabha so trumping Mizoram will definitely be in line with what the BJP has in mind for the coming Parliamentary elections.

So Mizoram first and then sweep the North East States when Parliamentary election is held next year and clearly the BJP seems to be looking beyond the immediate. Such an approach also falls in line with its Congress Mukt slogan.

From Look East to Act East, and clearly the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the North East cannot be missed.

This has resulted in the EVMs showing the desired results for the BJP. It is here that it becomes important for the BJP to choose the right candidate when it comes to the Parliamentary elections and this is particularly true for a State like Manipur, which has witnessed non-performing MPs down the years.

The criteria of who will be a good candidate is best left to the think tank of the BJP, but it must be clear that what the region and particularly what Manipur needs are representatives of the people who can look beyond 2019, 2020 and 2021 as well as beyond their pockets.

In other words, the region needs personalities who will be well placed to put the hopes and aspirations of the people well at the right platform with no selfish agenda.

The same thing stands for the Congress too, but the Congress has been tried and tested-a general perception with the people.

So if Amit Shah and the top leadership of the BJP want a Congress Mukt North East, what is it that the people want is the question worth considering.

This is the question which should prick the thought process of everyone who has some concern for the region and the State. Mizoram and then the Lok Sabha.

Time flies by and the best thing for the people to do now should be to see how the two principal parties-that is the Congress and BJP go about with the business of choosing their men to contest the elections.

The candidate plus the party are equally important.