It has been more than 80 days of ethnic violence between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zomis in the northeastern state of Manipur, but a return to normalcy is still awaited as violence continues in parts of the northeastern state. This week, Kuki militants launched fresh attacks at multiple locations in the Bishnupur district. Bishnupur, in Central Manipur, borders Churachandpur district.
As I mentioned in my earlier column, the fire in this northeastern state is affecting other parts of the region, particularly the neighbouring state of Mizoram, as the Mizos happen to be the ethnic brethren of Kuki-Zomis. This time, the situation has become worse with Meiteis fleeing the state of Mizoram. According to a report by East Mojo, quoting a senior police officer, over 600 Meiteis have left the state so far.
Unfortunately, more than 12,000 Kuki-Zomis from Manipur have taken shelter in Mizoram after the ethnic violence, and this has no doubt severely damaged the image of the N Biren Singh-led BJP government. At the same time, the fleeing of Meiteis from Mizoram due to their insecurity also affects the image of the Zoramthanga-led Mizo National Front government. Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who has been very vocal about Kuki-Zomis of Manipur, shouldn't forget that he also has responsibilities towards the Meiteis living in his own state.
The situation worsened after the massive rallies held by major civil organizations across the state — and Zoramthanga himself participated in one of them. Assembly elections in the state are likely to be held later this year and the ruling MNF, facing a growing anti-incumbency, is trying to use this emotional issue to garner votes in order to return to power. While keeping electoral arithmetic in mind, the MNF government shouldn't forget that Meiteis living in the state have nothing to do with the violence in Manipur. They are there for their livelihood. It is the duty of the state government to properly address the insecurities of the minority Meiteis living in the state.
Rift In SKM-BJP Alliance In Sikkim Laid Bare
The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, the ruling party of Sikkim, was one of the 38 regional parties that attended the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party this month in Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present at the crucial meeting. However, everything doesn't seem to be working well between the two allies in the state, which is going to polls next year along with the Lok Sabha elections.
This was reflected when Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang claimed this week that his party alone would win all the 32 seats of the state assembly. This statement was seen as a signal to its ally BJP, which has also been trying to gain a foothold in the state, that the party is capable of returning to power on its own. Significantly, the SKM-BJP contested together for the first time in the bypolls for three assembly seats in 2019 — and the alliance had swept the bypolls, with BJP winning 2 seats while SKM won 1.
This statement of the chief minister comes days after BJP state spokesperson DR Giri targeted the state government by saying that corruption has crossed all limits in the state and that a CBI investigation is the need of the hour. He also targeted its ally SKM by saying it failed to bring the change it had promised and said that if elected, the saffron party would bring real change in the state.
At a time when the BJP is busy pointing out the internal contradictions among the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) at the state level, the NDA itself is facing resistance among its allies at the state level. The apparent fissures within the SKM-BJP partnership are an example of this.
Big Setback For Mamata Banerjee's TMC In Tripura
This week, The Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faced another big setback in the northeastern state of Tripura. The president of the state TMC unit, Pijush Kanti Biswas, stepped down from the post and also resigned from the primary membership of the party. However, his son, Pujan Biswas, the party’s young face, is still with the party and remains the party’s state general secretary. But the question is for how long he will remain in that position?
The exit of Pijush, who was earlier the state Congress president, was not unexpected. In my Northeast Notes column on July 8, I mentioned how both Pijush and Pujan remained dormant after the assembly elections, even as TMC, despite creating so much hype in the media, had to be content with its competition with the NOTA votes.
Although he cited personal reasons, the causes for his resignation are undoubtedly political. The state leaders who joined the TMC — starting from former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Sudhir Mazumdar in the late 1990s to former speaker of the state assembly Ratan Chakraborty to present Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman and now BJP leader Subal Bhowmik — didn’t last long in the party due to differences with the party’s central command. TMC apparently failed to properly understand the politics of this northeastern state. Despite being a Bengali majoritarian state, Tripura has both political and cultural differences with West Bengal.
The reason for Pijush’s exit from the party is also not so different. This also puts an end to TMC’s fourth attempt to expand in this northeastern state. This failure is particularly a setback to the party’s second-in-command, Abhishek Banerjee’s attempt to expand the party outside Bengal. As seen in the past, TMC is likely to try another attempt. One would have to wait and watch when Mamata’s party will make another attempt to expand in the state by poaching leaders from other parties.
The author is a political commentator.
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