In the last few weeks, North Eastern states have been slightly more fortunate to grab bigger space in national dailies. BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi is frequently flying to these states as a part of pre-poll campaign. The region still remains a Congress bastion as the party is dominant in five out of the eight states — Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. It is undoubtedly a daunting task for Modi to sway the voters who have hardly sought any alternative for years.
How is Modi going about his mission? He seems to have narrowed down his approach to woo every state individually. That’s fair enough. What is perhaps not fair is his attempt to create polarization based on religion. While in Assam, he tried to touch upon some sensitive issues such as infiltration. Giving a clear religious tone to his ideas, he suggested that all states must accept ‘Hindu refugees’ from Bangladesh and the burden should not be only on Assam. He harped on the apprehension of indigenous people that Bangladeshi Muslims would become the majority. That is perhaps not the wise way of winning voters’ confidence.
The only theme that emerged from his speech is a blatant effort to hit out at Congress. He accused PM Manmohan Singh of not reaching out to Assam as frequently as he does. He also held chief minister responsible for not doing enough for the state when it was jeopardized by floods in 2012. According to him, Assam government has been abusing people in detention camps. He also made a promise to close down detention camps in Assam and fight against human rights violations. Proclaiming it as a Congress’ design to prevent its detractors from voting, he urged the poll panel to allow 1.43 lakh ‘doubtful’ or ‘disputed’ voters to cast their votes
It was his speech at the Arunachal Pradesh rally that should be read cautiously and with lot of introspection. There’s a fear that he might be going overboard with his promises. Modi has certainly projected himself as a stronger and superior alternative to Congress leadership when it comes to Gujarat, but his recent comments on national issues could be tad unsettling. Apart from praising the state’s tourism potential with a focus on ‘Buddhist tourism’, he assured the natives that “no power in the world can snatch away the state from India”.
A common stream of thought is evident in Modi’s public speeches – BJP’s governance has successfully dealt with all major issues across the country and if voted to power, NDA will prove itself to be a pro-development government. In a subtle way, he took a dig at the UPA government for being insensitive to the problems in every parts of the country. That’s how one can inflict or heighten the sense of marginalization in the people’s mind.
After a long hiatus, can BJP become Congress’ alternative in North East with Modi leading the campaign? That’s the moot question. But the possibility looks bleak. What precedence is he setting by saying, “Congress will not be seen in any corner of the country”? Instead of hinting at political cleansing, it would be wise for him and his party to come up with viable solutions to the problems of North East and compete on the grounds of performance.
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Narendra Modi strongest politicians in BJP.
I don’t think so…
There are lot more popular leaders in north east than modi the people of north- east hardly know him….
@Ankit BJP seems to have realized this vacuity and that’s probably the reason why Modi has been aggressively reaching out to the Seven Sister States
I think the answer is no…Because North East Delhi is with Jai Prakash Agarwal; Jai Prakash Agarwal has had three terms as MP from Chandni Chowk before he shifted to this newly formed constituency. He defeated BL Sharma Prem, veteran BJP politician of East Delhi and the man credited with finishing political career of Congress big shot and one of the main 1984 accused HKL Bhagat. Jai Prakash Agarwal won by a margin of over 2,00,000 votes.
Modi should quit fooling people.
Modi has seriously created the polarization which is actually based on religion,,,Though Congress bastion since the party is worthy in five out of the eight states,,,still the possibility looks for some viable solutions.
@Bhagyashree I personally feel that BJP might be pinning hopes on Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim to make inroads in North East.
Maybe Modi felt compelled to address the religious issues plaguing the North-East because Congress has helped to Christianise that part of India and missionaries have zealously introduced a militant brand of Christianity if you know what is being preached in North-Eastern churches. This agenda of Congress is purely to serve as a votebank for a Congress which is ruled by a Christian family. I hope the people of North-East realise that no amount of religious zealousness and falling for Congress’ sinister schemes is going to bring prosperity and peace to the region. A lot of people think Modi will bring about significant economic development and make a good attempt to reduce the social inequalities simply because he has the right intentions and is going for glory of the people and nation. It is not possible unless he is genuine about it and many are beginning to find faith in him. India cannot afford another decade of mismanagement.
@Vikram Talking about right intentions, every Indian would be happy if someone can execute the plan Atal Bihari Vajpayee had made for North East. The region needs a good listener in the form of government. It needs a fast implementer too.
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