 "Congress spruces up new strategy for North-east")
Meghalaya and Manipur appear to be the bright spots while Assam and Arunachal Pradesh continue to be difficult terrain in the north-east (N-E) region where the Congress is trying to recast its strategy.
As a counter to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is trying to make inroads in the N-E region through the North-east Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the Congress is planning a similar panel with Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma as its convener. Sangma will be a young face to counter BJP's Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congressman, who is the convener of NEDA.
Congress strategists feel the defeat of the September 15 no-confidence motion against Mukul Sangma brought in by the opposition parties was an indicator that things are under control in the state. A lack of unity among the Opposition went in Sangma's favour.
In Manipur, which will have assembly polls early next year, the Congress has further consolidated its position after four Trinamool Congress lawmakers Thounaojam Shyamkumar Singh, Irengbam Ibohalbi Singh, Konthoujam Sarat Singh and Oinam Lukhoi Singh joined the grand old party on September 19, taking its tally to 51 in a house of 60.
BJP has two seats while Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Loktantrik Chetna Party (LJP) have one seat each in the Manipur assembly. Five seats are lying vacant. Congress managers said party veteran Yumkham Erabot joining the BJP was not much of a concern in Manipur which would have assembly polls in 2017.
Taking note of the discontent brewing in Manipur, managers of All India Congress Committee had changed the state unit chief in March this year by replacing Gaikhangam Gangmei with T N Haokip. The move came after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi summoned Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam to Delhi. The worry for the Congress was that as many as 25 lawmakers in the state wanted changes in the party.
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While Meghalaya and Manipur provide some succour to the AICC managers, there seems to be little hope in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The recent move of Assam Congress Chief Ripun Bora to figure out why the party lost the state to the BJP after ruling for three terms appears to be a cosmetic exercise.
For instance, the written responses submitted by the district-level units seem more like a cut-and-paste job with similar set of reasons given for different constituencies than genuine feedback.
At least, the party workers are engaged in some activity. They have a platform to vent their grievances. This prevents them from turning to other parties, is how a senior AICC functionary tried to downplay the development.
The Congress could win just 26 of the total 126 seats in the assembly polls while the BJP emerged victorious with 60. Asom Gana Parishad got 14, Bodoland People's Front, 12, and All India United Democratic Front, 13, with one independent.
In Arunachal Pradesh, which shares border with China, the Congress managers were just waiting for the jolt that the party suffered when it lost an entire government.
Chief minister Pema Khandu stunned the Congress when he decided to join the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh, an outfit supported by the BJP, along with 41 other lawmakers.
The AICC had cried hoarse, terming it as murder of democracy, but, said the sources, this was on the expected lines.
According to the sources, when the Supreme Court restored the Nabam Tuki government in August, dismissing chief minister Kalikho Pull, the dissenting lawmakers chose to remain with the Congress only to escape the anti-defection law.
The Congress managers thought they had quelled dissent when they replaced Tuki with Khandu as the new chief minister at the eleventh hour.
On the day, the SC order came, 30 of our MLAs were with BJP chief Amit Shah; their ditching us was a foregone conclusion, said a senior Congress leader.
AICC in charge of north-east C P Joshi blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)/BJP of trying to push their Hindutva ideology in Arunachal where majority people are Christians.
In Mizoram, CM Lal Thanhawla is trying hard to contain Mizo National Front chief Zoramthanga who has moved closer to the BJP's NEDA.