The result of the just concluded election for the Lok Sabha seat in the state has intrigued and surprised everyone so much so that it bears taking a closer look at what really happened. Nobody believed even remotely that the NDPP would lose or that the INC would win. But the shocker came on the counting day defying everyone\u2019s belief. The result must have come as a bolt from the blue and left NDPP and the PDA dumbstruck. We could visualize both the candidates\u2019 jaws dropping and hitting the ground in disbelief. We want to know, even if it\u2019s a conjecture, why the people voted in the way they did. There can be any number of factors, considered in isolation or in combinations, that decided the outcome. Four such factors may be discussed as below.
One, the NDPP and its allies were so brimming over with confidence that they didn\u2019t realize they were over-confident. Every one of them talked without a shadow doubt that Dr. Chumben Murry would have a landslide victory. They have a basis for their confidence \u2013 all the 60 MLAs were behind their candidate. There was no reason to worry; there was no need for hard campaigning. An easy languor stole over them. Even as they lazed away the campaign period, a massive undercurrent of emotion was surging through the voters that would insidiously change their political fortune. And while NDPP and its allies were playing the fabled hare, the famously slow and steady tortoise won the race.
If the above was a factor for the defeat, then irresponsible is the word that will describe the action, or non-action, of the NDPP-PDA. The electoral debacle has badly dented their image as the sole political power in the state. Now that there is no meaningful political link with the ruling coalition in the Centre, can they still say they are in alliance with NDA?
Two, the people in the state might have been swept away by the wave of dissent as can be seen in most of the Northeastern states, especially in Manipur and Meghalaya where the BJP drew blank. The dissent can be political or religious in nature but they all converge to the same thing, that they have had enough of the BJP pushing its agenda. Then again, this as a factor does not give a plausible explanation for the fact that there was no BJP or Hindu candidate contesting the election from the state.
Three, a lot of people point their fingers towards NBCC\u2019s call for conscious voting. By the look of things, it had a huge impact on the vote. The NBCC was simply voicing its concerns for the Christians and other minorities in the country. But in dealing with this emotive issue it pushed itself a little bit too far, got carried away and ended up calling the people to vote against the \u201ccommunal forces working against Christians in India\u201d. That call must have reached down to the hearts of the electorate, who are mostly Christians, and appealed to their religious senses so profoundly that they voted \u2018consciously\u2019. If this was a factor, then NBCC\u2019s single call has done what the NPCC couldn\u2019t do in 25 years. Now, that\u2019s something.
NBCC\u2019s action is seen as one in defense of the Christian minorities in India who often suffer persecution at the hands of the majority Hindu zealots. As a respectable guardian of the Baptist Christian faith in Nagaland, it took upon itself the responsibility of raising its voice against the rising tide of communal forces. But with no BJP candidate or Hindu candidate contesting the election from the state, who was the NBCC referring to when it appealed to the electorate not to vote for? It is understood that there was no malice intended towards any of the three candidates, but it turned out to be a costly blooper. The voters were quick to soak up the appeal and saw the NDPP candidate as if he was a BJP candidate and made him the fall guy.
Four (and the last in this speculation), the district-wise data on the election result shows a pattern that seems to scream \u2018stop delimitation\u2019. It could be more than a coincidence that those districts that are against the implementation of the Delimitation Act voted majorly against Dr. Chumben Murry, who happened to be from Wokha District that is asking for its implementation. If this was a factor, then tribalism has played its horrid part in the defeat of the candidate and, by extension, defeat of the party. The constitutionality of an MP stopping or enabling provisions of the constitution is beyond the scope of this discussion. But the fact remains, if this was a factor, that the NDPP candidate for all his abilities has been wasted by public paranoia.
The above discussions are not intended to kick up a storm. The reader may ruminate on them and draw their own conclusions. There could more factors. Politics has come of age in the state and has acquired the ability to cast a web of intrigues that can be very difficult to unravel.
The debacle for the NDPP and its allies is victory for those who meant to vote against Modi and his BJP. The defeat of NDPP, an ally of BJP, not BJP, is used as a metaphor for \u201cwe don\u2019t like you, Modi\u201d. If this is the sole aim of the voters, then thus far will their triumph go. We don\u2019t know if Modi got the message, but we see him with a broad smile as he delivers his victory speech, light and spontaneous as can be. Love him or hate him, he keeps his job.
But for the state with one Parliamentary seat, sitting in the cold, lonely and hard opposition bench in the Parliament may not be a very happy experience. Mr. S. Supungmeren Jamir, the winner candidate of NPCC, has a big responsibility for making the \u2018voice of the people\u2019 heard in the Parliament. He has to somehow enable this voice to carry far and ensure that it has the bargaining chip.
Ekyimo Shitirie, Kohima<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The result of the just concluded election for the Lok Sabha seat in the state has intrigued and surprised everyone so much so that it bears taking a closer look at what really happened. Nobody believed even remotely that the NDPP would lose or that the INC would win. But the shocker came on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}