Developments in Arunachal make one wonder if democracy is working as envisaged by framers of the Constitution
Is the North-East gradually slipping towards ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’, a political wish expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaignIJ Of the eight north-eastern States, four are led by either the BJP or its allies. Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram are the three States ruled by the Congress. Tripura is ruled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The BJP hopes that a ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ might not be unrealistic, given the fact that the ‘seven sister’ are known for defection and are almost entirely dependent on the Union Government for funds.
The latest State to move out from the Congress fold is Arunachal Pradesh. Has any one ever heard of a party coming to power with no legislator in its kittyIJ This is what happened to the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) last week when its fortunes turned for the better within hours.
It was Haryana which ‘gifted’ Indian politics a name for turncoats. Bhajan lal, who was heading a Janata Party Government in Haryana, defected with all legislators to the Congress after Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980. The situation in Arunachal is similar, but the difference is that the Congress benefitted then and the BJP has gained now.
The PPA did not have a single member in the Assembly until last Friday morning. “(But) thanks to Pema Khandu and his team’s decision to join the PPA, by Friday afternoon, the Government was ours”, admitted party chairman Kamen Ringu.
Khandu, along with 43 Congress MlAs, defected to the PPA on September 16, with the Congress losing power yet again, two months after the Supreme Court paved the way for its return. Also, the PPA is back in power after a two-month gap — the third time in 39 years since the formation of the party. Former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, a Congress Minister in the Nabam Tuki Cabinet, had joined the same PPA in February along with 24 Congress MlAs.
Arunachal had had three Chief Ministers in three days. Pul paved the way for Tuki after the apex court’s verdict on July 14, but Tuki resigned to install Pema Khandu on July 16. The BJP came into the picture because the PPA is part of the newly-formed North-East Democratic Alliance (Neda), an anti-Congress front of regional parties, created by the BJP two months ago. The BJP has allowed Khandu and his MlAs to join the PPA and not the BJP as of now.
When the Supreme court restored the Congress Government on July 16, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Thank you Supreme Court for explaining to the Prime Minister what democracy is.” Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who had argued the case in the apex court had said, “It is a great victory, a message for the Government and the Governor. If the Centre does some mischief with the Government, the Supreme Court says we are here to restore the Constitution.”
The Congress leadership has failed to keep the party-ruled States intact. After the birds have flown, it is claiming that the MlAs were kidnapped and the entire episode was engineered by Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The party is again facing an existential crisis in Arunachal, with Tuki the lone Congress legislator in the 60-member Assembly. The party cannot invoke the anti-defection law as almost all party legislators have switched sides. This has left little legal options it.
Politically, it is an advantage for the BJP. Although it may not join the Government, for all practical purposes the State will have a BJP stamp. After all, the whole operation was designed and executed by BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, the architect behind the party’s Assam victory.
Khandu realised that he had no support from the Centre. Except for Sikkim, which boasts of a flourishing tourism industry, other States in the region are dependent on the Centre for financial help. As a resource-crunch State, Arunachal Pradesh had to plug massive leakages. So, to save his skin, Khandu decided to switch over to the PPA. There is now an increasing concern over the fate of the Congress Governments in Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Sarma’s job was to execute Shah’s blueprint for a larger coalition of non-Congress forces in the North-East through Neda. Arunachal was the first step.
Arunachal has once again played out the sad story of ayarams and gayarams. The curse of the region is that the States are politically fragile. The Arunachal developments make one wonder if democracy in the country is working as envisaged by framers of the Constitution.