What Nadda should speak at Dimapur rally on April 13, but may not

Nirendra Dev *

All eyes are on the PDA poll rally in Dimapur on Saturday, April 13. Voting in Nagaland will be carried out on April 19. Will the BJP national president J P Nadda, educated in a Christian institute in Patna, say something different when the saffron party is trying to make a comeback to the citadel of power in Delhi ?

There's a paradox; Delhi may not be very far for the BJP 'as a goal' but some pockets in the northeast and states such as Mizoram and Manipur are quite far off for the top party leaders. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar was fielded in Mizoram on April 12 to release a Vision Document and also share his logic and vision about the government's Act East Policy and the situation in Myanmar.

In Nagaland, we have BJP president J P Nadda coming. PM Narendra Modi skipped the Mizoram poll campaign in 2023 also. A large number of Lushai and other smaller native tribes sharing ethnic bonds with Zo and Kuki people are not happy about the manner the situation was handled in Manipur.

Presuming Mr Nadda would try to do a candid talk; one expects the BJP national president to say "Apologies".

He would say - "Apologies because we failed to deliver Solution to the Naga issue as was promised in 2018 with a categorical slogan Election for Solution".

"While we countered another negative slogan 'No Solution, No Election'; but when it came to place our own election pledge into test - we could not. Between 2018 and 2023 -- sixty MLAs were together. We had 12.... Now after 2023 polls, we again have 12 legislators from our own stock and there are sixty of them again together".

Nadda may say, "Friends, I am holding Bertand Russel's famous book 'The Conquest of Happiness', and it says the trouble arises generally from the philosophy that Life is a contest....Even to talk about Peace and Solution - there is 'competition' today and that's the whole trouble".

"We are at a critical stage of Naga peace talks ... Nothing much has happened since 2019 on peace negotiations but we are still optimistic of a final pact soon... As I say this, let me make it clear we want a Win-Win situation for all. As of now this may appear pipedream and in pipedreams we often find answers to multiple tough questions of life".

"Nagaland is a state where people have a high literacy rate. Your knowledge of English is much better than it is in states such as Bihar. Please read our Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent interview given to an American magazine wherein he has said "Negativity has a low shelf life".

"To speak humbly, one knows every BJP worker will agree to whatever the Prime Minister says but with regard northeast and complex issues like in Nagaland and Manipur; mere Positivity does not help.

"It is a matter of concern that the radical fringes of every community make the Loudest noise and give the impression of representing the majority. Look at Nagaland, the majority is in silence. It may be thought provoking today why a brave community of Nagas has opted for Silence as a policy.

Your Silence cannot erase the fact that the past few months were bumpy and we could still be heading towards a bumpy road with regard to the conflicts in Manipur or the road to Solution in Nagaland. We do not want to attack our opponents. But it's true Congress has turned so weak in Nagaland and other northeastern states that we are leaving it to our regional partners such as the NDPP in Nagaland and NPP in Meghalaya to fight the Congress.

"But mere election win is not enough.... Success is more important. From the perspective of Naga people we need a win-win situation, that will be true Success. Do not forget, one of the most seductive words in English is Success... We must aim towards it.... Solution is only a part of that long journey.

Do not forget, often years may go fast but the days and hours will go slow.... Things have reached that stage. Often we do not have to do anything extraordinary to help the cause of Negativity and Failures; it is often enough to do nothing at all.

Vote for us, vote for the PDA candidate.... but when everything is over... pause within oneself and think for a while -- History has often shown that the Failure carries its own seeds. Let us identify the seeds.

That cannot be the job of a political party or a government. Do not expect others to do your job, that's minimum," -- Nadda would say.

(With apologies to one and all. But one believes, where there's a will, there may be a highway.

Views are personal.)