THE CONGRESS RISES. AGAIN

The BJP's promises of development for the region notwithstanding, the Lok Sabha election results reveal the region's new-found favour for the Congress

- Kaushik Deka

IN the past 10 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often talked about developing India’s northeast—a marginalised region that has lagged in terms of infrastructure and socio-economic progress. Blaming it on the political apathy of the previous governments at the Centre, the BJP stalwart never misses an opportunity to point out that he, as PM, has paid more visits to the northeast than the combined trips of all his predecessors.

Yet, when Manipur remained engulfed in ethnic violence for more than a year, claiming the lives of more than 200 people and displacing 60,000, the PM did not pay a single visit to the strife-torn state, ruled by his own party. He even took more than two months to break his silence on the sensitive issue.

In contrast, the Opposition Congress’s top leader Rahul Gandhi visited the violencehit regions and spent time with the victims. Srinivas B.V., chief of the party’s youth wing, made regular trips to the state and distributed relief material. Earlier this year, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, led by Rahul, was kicked off from Manipur. That investment of time and effort now seems to have yielded dividend for the Congress this Lok Sabha election.

The Congress swept both seats—Inner Manipur, dominated by Meiteis, a majority of whom are Hindus, and Outer Manipur, inhabited by Nagas and Kukis who are mostly Christians. What makes the win even more significant is the massive surge in the Congress’s vote share—from 25 per cent in 2019 to 48 per cent now. The drop in the BJP’s vote share—from 34 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent—shows up in its humiliating defeat.