With Arunachal gone only 3M’s remain for Congress in Northeast,but for how long?
The recent events in Arunachal Pradesh has now ensured that there is only 3 states where the Congress rules the roost ,the 3 M's – Meghalaya,Mizoram and Manipur.
While Manipur looks extremely shaky and Meghalaya and Mizoram has been somewhat stable largely in Mizoram due to the time tested leadership of Lal Thanhuwala and in Meghalaya because of an disunited opposition and at times the deft handling of Mukul Sangma.
The 3 M's of Congress in the Northeast may not last long because Manipur has had some serious defections amongst the ranks with Irabot Singh a veteran leader and a key opponent CM Ibobi Singh leaving the party to join the BJP.
The role of an earlier Congress leader and now the convenor of Northeast democratic alliance which is an umbrella alliance against anti congress states Himanta Biswa Sarma will perhaps play the biggest role behind the scenes.
Read More Arunachal Pradesh:Its official Kalikho Pul died in Vain as Pema Khandu ditches Congress for PPA
HBS played a big role in dethroning Tarun Gogoi in Assam and now it looks certain that he played in turning the table for the NEDA towards BJP in Arunachal Pradesh.
States where leaders are unhappy with the congress but slightly wary of the BJP will gravitate towards the regional alliance says one political observer.
Read More 'I will present BJP with 52 Congress MLAs': Himanta Biswa Sarma
States like Nagaland,Meghalaya and even Tripura may see large scale defection towards the regional alliance where BJP is willing to play a junior partner .
If leaders like Conrad Sangma,SI Jamir ,Neiphiou Rio,Paul Lyngdoh can be made comfortable that the BJP will not undermine them in their area then it is likely that they will allow the relationship to grow.
Even in Tripura the BJP has announced that the Tripura airport will be built after the Tribal King Maharaja Bir Bikrama and a 184 feet statue built in his memory to woo the Indigenous tribals in the state as well as the Royal Family in Tripura which till now have been fiercely pro congress and anti Communist.
Read More Tripura: Congress could suffer a big jolt as Royal scion may move towards Regional alliance
The lack of decision making within the Congress and the role of their General Secretaries have perhaps played the biggest role in undermining the party amongst many supporters and leaders in the region.
And the lack of response from the leadership has really hurt the image and the base of the party in the northeast.
It seems that if the Congress does not wake up to the harsh realities soon the 3M's where the congress is left in the northeast will be perhaps left with only 1M (Mizoram).
And the cruelest blow is that most of the new leaders emerging as an anti congress platform were once themselves Congressmen.Wonder what went wrong that they changed camps ? The answer lies where accountability begins , but in the Congress who will bell the cat !
