How A Shift In Focus To Development In A Restive Tribal Seat In Assam Is Working To The BJP’s Advantage — A Ground Report

‘Autonomy’ is a term that has reverberated through the rolling hills of Karbi Anglong in central Assam for many decades. 

The movement for an autonomous state has driven the politics of this district for a long time. Many agitations and a long and bloody insurgency over the decades for a separate or autonomous state for Karbis, a hill tribe of Assam, led to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (established in 1951) being given more and more powers. 

But this had not been able to douse the desire among the Karbis for an autonomous state. All parties have the demand for an autonomous state comprising the Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and West Karbi Anglong districts of Assam as their core agenda. 

This demand and the politics surrounding it has, however, kept the Karbi people’s attention diverted away from issues of development. Karbi Anglong, and the neighbouring districts of Dima Hasao and West Karbi Anglong, have lagged behind the rest of the state in all development indices. 

Prolonged unrest, including insurgency, has kept all the three districts poor and backward. The human poverty index (HPI) among the Karbis rates as the highest in Assam.

Acute unemployment, abysmally poor infrastructure, low agricultural yields, absence of industries and limited livelihood opportunities has kept the three districts in a state of largescale destitution and backwardness. 

However, over the past few years, the BJP has been able to subtly change the political narrative from the emotional demand for an autonomous state to socio-economic development. 

The BJP says that the focus has been widened — from sole attention to autonomy, it has been enlarged to include development. 

A Sorry Picture Of Backwardness

As Swarajya discovered on a visit to Karbi Anglong district and its headquarters Diphu, this enlargement of focus, and priorities, to include the issue of development was very necessary. 

After the BJP came to power in Assam in 2016, the state underwent a dramatic transformation in terms of infrastructure development. Potholed and narrow roads, and ancient rickety bridges have made way for smooth four-lane highways and concrete bridges spanning the state’s rivers. 

All this development has, however, eluded the Karbi Anglong hills. The 210 kilometre drive down National Highway 27 from Guwahati to Lumding Tiniali via Nagaon is as smooth as it can get. 

But from the point where we get off NH 27 at Lumding Tiniali to take NH 329 that leads to Diphu, we hit potholes and long stretches that are little better than dirt tracks.

The 38-kilometre journey on NH 329 takes us nearly 75 minutes to cover; even our four-wheel drive cannot accelerate beyond 15 kmph on most stretches. The average speed is about 25 kmph, and that speaks volumes about the condition of this highway.

The stark difference between the conditions of NH 27 and NH 329 is not the only contrast that stares at me. There is also a striking difference in the landscape.

The lush green paddy fields punctuated by apparently prosperous villages and towns that line NH 27 give way to patches of tropical forests between hillsides denuded by jhum (shifting) cultivation. 

The villages and hamlets that lie beside NH 329 are visibly poor; there are very few pucca houses and most of the dwellings are mud and thatched huts. 

“All the agitations, and the insurgency and violence, have kept Karbi Anglong extremely poor, underdeveloped and backward. Unfortunately, politicians have always leveraged the emotional issue of autonomy to divert people’s attention from real issues like employment, progress, roads and infrastructure etc. This has been the bane of Karbi Anglong,” said Mansingh Terang, a retired state government officer. 

Changing The Narrative To Focus On Development

But over the last few years, the BJP has made a conscious though subtle effort to broaden the political focus and include development as a key issue. 

“Autonomy is important, but it should not divert our attention from the need for poverty-allevation, employment and development,” says Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) Chief Executive Member (CEM) Tuliram Ronghang. Ronghang belongs to the BJP.

The BJP’s candidate for the Diphu Lok Sabha constituency, Amarsing Tisso, tells me that he has kept the focus firmly on development and ‘Modi ka Guarantee’ in his campaign. 

“More devolution of financial powers under Article 251(1) of the Constitution that guaranteed grants-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of India to the KAAC and implementation of the 125th Constitution Amendment Bill will go a long way towards meeting the aspirations of the people of Karbi Anglong.

“At the same time, I have been speaking about the need to accelerate development. My promises include improving physical infrastructure, building new healthcare facilities, improving education, getting investments, promoting entrepreneurship, providing skills training to youth and fast-tracking the implementation of various state and centrally-sponsored welfare schemes and projects,” Tisso told Swarajya. 

Tisso’s focus on development has had its effect. A large number of people Swarajya spoke to in the district want development to be prioritised. 

“People are realising that autonomy will not make them richer or get them jobs. Autonomy is an issue that has been used to inflame passions and divert people’s attention from real issues,” said Mansingh Terang, the retired government officer.

Tisso’s opponents in the poll fray have, however, failed to grasp this and are harking only on autonomy, constitutional safeguards for preserving the culture etc of the Karbis and devolution of more powers, including financial powers, to the KAAC. 

Joyram Engleng of the Congress and Jonas Ingty Kathar of the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC ) — the two main opponents of Tisso — have gone little beyond guaranteeing greater autonomy for Karbi Anglong if they are elected. 

Greater autonomy, they have been stressing, is the panacea for all ills afflicting the three districts and only greater autonomy will lead to progress and prosperity. 

Tisso has been supplementing the issue of autonomy with promises of development.

“Development and prosperity are Modi’s guarantees and I have underlined this during my campaign. In his third term, Prime Minister Modi will focus on bringing the backward and under-developed areas of India at par with the rest of the country and this will benefit Karbi Anglong immensely,” said Tisso. 

This, say people of Karbi Anglong, has put Tisso in a highly advantageous position. 

Voices Of The People

The change in people’s mindset, and the dawning of the realisation that the real issues of development and prosperity need to be addressed, is perceptible on the ground. 

Rita Timung, a vegetable seller in Diphu, tells me that the BJP’s campaign has opened her eyes, and that of many like her. 

“We used to think that the only issue was autonomy and a separate state. And in doing so, we turned a blind eye to issues that actually matter like good roads, jobs, healthcare and education,” she tells me. 

I came across Rimsipi Rongpi, a homemaker, who has picked up her daughter from the kindergarten school.

“We have been living in a fool’s paradise for such a long time. We now realise that autonomy cannot be the panacea for our backwardness and poverty. We need fast-paced development and we need help to augment our incomes, we need good schools and hospitals and we need jobs,” she said. 

Her husband is a mechanic at an automobile repair workshop and barely makes enough to run the family of three.

“I have to do odd jobs, but that’s difficult with a minor daughter at home all alone,” she says. 

Pradip Enghi, 42, is an autorickshaw driver. He was a supporter of the APHLC till recently. The APHLC was formed in the early 1960s by a group of prominent tribal politicians from Assam and Meghalaya to demand separate states for tribals carved out of Assam. 

“I had been an active supporter of the APHLC. But two weeks ago, a friend forwarded a video of the BJP candidate’s campaign speech where he spoke of Modi’s guarantee for development and the need to focus on progress. That was an eye-opener for me and I’ve become a fan of the BJP,” he confesses. 

Pradip, however, still flies the APHLC’s yellow, white and green flag on his autorickshaw.

“I let it be there because the area I stay in has many APHLC supporters. But many of them have also had a change of heart and will vote for the BJP this time,” said Pradip. 

His political turnaround, Pradip tells me, came about when he realised that despite his hard work, he earns barely enough to support his family of five--wife, one son and two daughters. 

.“My earnings are low because I don’t get many passengers, and that’s because many cannot even afford auto fares. I have to sit idle waiting for passengers for up to an hour at a stretch. I do barely 10 trips a day and am lucky if I earn Rs 300 a day. Instead of speaking about boosting the local economy, all that APHLC speaks about is autonomy and separate state. As if a separate state will improve our plight,” he tells Swarajya. 

Angtong Engti used to run a small shop beside NH 329 selling cigarettes and betel leaf. He supplements his meagre earnings from his shop by working in a neighbour’s poultry farm as a helper. 

“There’s little money going around. We, the common people, are poor but our political leaders who have been keeping us on a diet of autonomy and separate state are very rich. They have been misleading us for the past few decades. But not any longer,” said Angtong, 31. 

“I have realised that autonomy and separate state are emotional issues that divert our attention from real issues. I need to enhance my income and for that, the local economy has to receive a huge boost. That will happen when we get good roads and infrastructure that will bring in investments and tourists. Only the BJP is speaking about these issues now,” he tells Swarajya while enjoying what is a rare treat for him — a popsicle ice-cream. 

Driving further down, in the outskirts of Diphu, I come across a group of women who are waiting for a bus to take them to Amlakhi, about 22 kilometres away, to attend a ceremony to celebrate the birth of a friend’s daughter.  

They are chatty and friendly, and are quite articulate about their concerns. Purnima Teron, 43, tells me that the primary concern of Karbi women ought to be good healthcare facilities, good education for their kids and job opportunities. 

“But all these decades, our politicians have never even spoken about these issues. We have been kept ignorant because it is easy to brainwash and influence ignorant people. But in recent years, the BJP has started speaking of real issues and so our best bet is the BJP now,” she  said. 

Her friend Jyoshna Ternagpi, an anganwadi worker, is happy that people are finally getting to see reason.

“The emotional issue of autonomy and separate state kept us in a state of intoxication for such a long time. But now we are coming out of our stupor and realising that the real issues that will benefit us are the ones that the BJP is focusing on,” she tells Swarajya. 

Monica Kramsapi, who runs a vegetable stall, says: “Autonomy can wait, prosperity is more important. Prosperity can only happen with good infrastructure”. 

Serkungri Ronghang, 47, a weaver and a BJP worker, says that a clear mandate for the BJP will open the gates for development and progress of Karbi Anglong.

“Karbi Anglong today is what Assam was like in the 1970s and 1980s. The rest of the state has progressed immensely, especially over the last eight years (since the BJP came to power) but we are lagging much behind because of our obsession with autonomy and separate state,” she says. 

Her close friend Anjana Engti, who rears a few hens to supplement the income of her husband, a small farmer, tells Swarajya that she has been canvassing actively for the BJP. 

“I used to support the Congress earlier, but I have realised that the Congress only misleads people. The Congress is incapable of ushering in progress and prosperity. The Congress ruled Assam for so long, but Assam remained backward. It is only after the BJP came to power that Assam has progressed such a lot. We need the same sort of progress in Karbi Anglong as well,” she said. 

The BJP’s efforts to set a fresh narrative focusing on progress and development has, apparently, found a large number of takers. There is a perceptible change in people’s perspectives in Karbi Anglong. And that will work to the BJP’s advantage here. 

But winning, says Mansing Tisso (the BJP candidate) is only a small part of the job to be done.

“I’m confident of victory. But the real work starts after that. The biggest challenge before me is to drastically improve the physical infrastructure, set up modern healthcare facilities, develop entrepreneurial skills among my people and get excellent quality educational institutions. I am confident of achieving all this because the BJP is in power in the state and will form the government at the Centre this time too,” Tisso tells Swarajya. 

But Congress’s Joyram Engleng and APHLC’s Jonas Ingti Kathar accuse the BJP of diverting people’s attention from the core issues of an autonomous state.

“Only an autonomous state can lead to development of Karbi Anglong and the Karbi people,” said Engleng. 

“Development and progress will be the spinoffs from an autonomous state. Till we achieve this, we cannot progress,” said Kathar.

But many Karbis disagree. Development and prosperity are more important, they say. 

Monica Teron, a teacher at Dilaram Ternag LP School at Borlangpher Tiniali on NH 329 opines that Karbis are realising that education, healthcare and other issues are more important than an autonomous state.

"My students will need good jobs once they grow up. That's why development is necessary. Agitations and protests, which have been a recurring feature in the hills till recently, impede development," she said.

The demographics also work in the BJP’s favour. Of the 8.92 lakh-strong electorate, Karbis number around four lakh. The next major group are Bengali Hindus who number about 1.6 lakh, followed by Assamese Hindus at 1.3 lakh, Biharis and Gorkhas at 60,000 each, and Dimasas who number about 50,000. 

The Bengali and Assamese Hindus, as well as the Biharis and Gorkhas, are largely behind the BJP. With a large section of the Karbis also rallying behind Tisso, he is confident of improving the victory margin of nearly 2.39 lakh of incumbent BJP MP Horen Singh Bey. 

Bey’s vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was 62.6 per cent while that of his nearest Congress rival, Biren Singh Engti, was 23.3 per cent. 

Tisso is eyeing a victory margin of at least four lakh this time.

“My target is realistic because we have changed the narrative. Karbis now realise that travelling on good roads, earning more, getting jobs, getting help for setting up businesses, getting good treatment in world-class hospitals and education in first-class schools and colleges is what matters the most,” said Tisso. 

This report is part of Swarajya's 50 Ground Stories Project - an attempt to throw light on themes and topics that are often overlooked or looked down. You can support this initiative by sponsoring as little as ₹2999. Click here for more details.