Northeast preparing for a new political party

Recent partnership cracks have led to concern among regional allies who have grown apprehensive about potential tie-ups with BJP

- NIBIR DEKA

A new political roadmap is being prepared among the states of Northeast India for a new political party. This comes amid a rising demand for regionalism in the Northeast region, with political parties pushing for an alternative even though the NDA has a comfortable majority in the region in the recent Lok Sabha elections. In Assam, the NDA holds 11 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats with a strong presence even in other states of the Northeast, with its regional partners doing much of the legwork vis-à-vis states such as Nagaland. However, recent instances of partnership instability have cautioned the regional allies into thinking of an alternative. Firstly, in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) region of Assam, NDA ally UPPL was in power with the BJP. They together won the Lok Sabha seat as the BJP backed the UPPL seat. However, during the recently held council elections, the BJP fielded their candidates alone, which was a big blow to the UPPL. This helped the Bodo People’s Front (BPF) win the council elections, and UPPL and incumbent CEM Pramod Boro lost his seat. The situation has led to a concern among the regional allies, who have gone apprehensive about potential tie-ups