BJP Eyes The Northeast

The saffron party makes a bold play for three states going to the polls

- Kaushik Deka

The BJP is poised to play a key-role in determining the winners on March 3, when results are declared to elections in three Northeastern states—Tripura, which goes to polls on February 18; and Meghalaya and Nagaland, February 27.

The saffron party’s surge in the Northeast has been dramatic. After ousting the Congress in Assam in May 2016, it took Arunachal six months later, luring 43 Congress MLAs, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu. In March 2017, the BJP formed the government in Manipur even though the Congress emerged as the largest party in the polls.

But things may not be so easy in Christian-majority Meghalaya and Nagaland, where the BJP faces questions over cow vigilantism, the beef ban and church attacks elsewhere in the country. In Meghalaya, Union tourism minister K.J. Alphons, known for his pro-beef stand in home state Kerala, is state in-charge. Evidently, the saffron leadership hopes the move will help stem the recent attrition in its fledgling ranks over the beef ban issue.