Nagaland 2023: BJP Looks Set For A Solid Performance, And It All Began Under Vajpayee

Poll-bound Nagaland is awash with colours of many shades — prominent among them is saffron. 

That is exceptional, considering the fact that Nagaland is an overwhelmingly Christian majority tribal state and its residents are quite westernised.

The BJP, after all, is often painted as a ‘Hindi-Hindu’ party by its rivals.

Going by that perception, Nagaland is an unlikely place for the lotus to boom. 

But that is exactly what has happened: the BJP has taken deep and strong roots in the state, and is becoming a formidable force. 

The primary reason for that is the BJP’s dexterous success in striking the perfect balance between Naga sub-nationalism and Indian nationalism.

And also the party’s inclusive politics that gives the lie to critics’ propaganda about BJP being a ‘Hindu majoritarian party'.

The BJP's emergence on Nagaland's political landscape coincided with the first NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government assuming office at the Centre.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee attracted a lot of goodwill by driving the peace talks with the NSCN(IM). 

Vajpayee took a personal interest in taking the talks forward.

He developed a close personal rapport with many Naga leaders who developed deep respect for him. 

This respect and love for Vajpayee permeated to all sections of Naga society.

Not only Vajpayee, even his senior ministers like George Fernandes and L K Advani developed a very good rapport with Naga leaders and civil society. 

"Vajpayee became very popular among Nagas because of his initiative in driving the talks on the Naga issue. Nagas felt that at last there was a Prime Minister who was genuinely interested in finding a solution to the Naga issue and had the interests of Nagas at heart. All Nagas looked up to him as a sincere and large-hearted person," political analyst Imenla Ao told Swarajya. 

Ao, as a civil society leader, was part of consultations between Naga civil society and the Union government on the Naga issue.

"We all felt that for once, the Government of India was really interested in the well-being of Nagas. Everyone in the top echelons of the NDA government, including the ministers we closely interacted with, displayed purpose, sincerity and love for Nagas. They were all very large-hearted and that struck a deep chord among us," Ao added. 

This love and respect for Vajpayee and his senior ministers paved the way for the growth of the BJP in Nagaland.

The BJP launched its unit in Nagaland and it started gaining popularity.

The state unit of the party started growing in strength with many youths, professionals and prominent civil society members, apart form politicians, flocking to the party. 

"The initiative taken by Prime Minister Vajpayee in propelling talks with Naga groups on the Naga issue, and the development measures he launched, convinced the Nagas that the BJP was far from being a Hindutva party that it was targeted as by it political opponents. Nagas became convinced that the BJP is an inclusive party that has its eyes set on developing the nation and ensuring the welfare of every community," said Andrew Zhimomi, a physician. 

The BJP started conducting successful membership drives and opening offices all over the state.

"The BJP stood out as a new party offering fresh hope to the Nagas. Its commitment to development and its principled approach as well as its commitment to good and transparent governance appealed to Nagas," said Sentang Konyak, an architect who joined the BJP a little over two decades ago. 

The BJP opened its account in Nagaland in the 2003 assembly polls by winning a very respectable seven seats.

The Congress bagged 21 seats while the Naga People's Front (NPF) which was a powerful regional force got 19 seats. 

The BJP, a nationalist party, was successful in evolving a cordial synthesis between its nationalism and Naga sub-nationalism. 

That was because of its avid endorsement of Naga sub-nationalism through its robust support to the negotiations to find a solution to the Naga issue.

The BJP's sincerity in the talks, and the huge political capital invested by the party in the talks process, won it the support of Naga nationalists. 

Things took a downturn with the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) coming to power at the federal level.

"Those were difficult times for us. The Congress had succeeded in falsely portraying us as a Hindu party and created unfounded fears in the minds of the Nagas," recalled Achouba, a party old-timer who retired as an engineer in the state public works department. 

Meanwhile, talks between the government of India and the Naga groups floundered during the UPA I and II regimes.

That slowly turned public opinion against the Congress. 

The Nagas, said Achouba, started realising that the Congress was only paying lip service to the process of finding a solution to the Naga issue. 

"And in order to keep the attention of the Nagas away from its lack of commitment to finding a solution to the Naga issue, the Congress was spreading misinformation about the BJP. But such dirty tactics do not work and very soon, Nagas started realising that the Congress was not invested in finding a solution to the Naga issue," said a senior serving bureaucrat who did not want to be named.

This realisation started dawning on the Nagas towards the end of the UPA II government at the Centre.

The NDA returned to power in 2014 and immediately, the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi got serious about the Naga talks. 

The signing of the framework agreement in 2015 and the efforts to take the negotiations to a happy conclusion convinced the Nagas that believing the Congress was wrong. 

The Modi government not only mirrored the efforts of the Vajpayee government, but improved vastly on them.

And the simultaneous stress on development measures convinced the Nagas once again that the BJP was sincere in the steps it was taking to develop Nagaland and bring permanent peace to the state. 

The BJP received a big boost in January 2018 when former chief minister K L Chisi joined the party along with 12 former MLAs.

And in the assembly elections held the next month, the BJP won 12 seats. It formed the government in alliance with the NDPP. 

This time, the BJP is contesting in 20 seats and, by all accounts, it is set to significantly improve its 2018 tally. Pollsters say that the party is likely to bag 17 to 18 seats this time.

BJP state president Temjen Ima Along says that there is no conflict between Indian nationalism and Naga sub-nationalism.

The BJP believes that Naga sub-nationalism is complementary to nationalism and will only strengthen nationalism, says Along. 

This fine balance struck by the BJP has served to endear the party to the Nagas.