Ahead of polls, discontent over seat-sharing simmers in Nagaland BJP

The BJP’s expansionist policy in Nagaland has put the party in a tight spot. Ahead of the Assembly elections, due to be held on February 27, many of those who had switched over to the saffron party from its regional allies after getting “ticket assurance” have now hit the streets, accusing the party of going back on its promise.

At least 10 aspiring candidates of the BJP and their supporters under the banner of “BJP Forum” have been protesting in Dimapur, demanding a hike in the party’s share in the seat-sharing agreement with Neiphiu Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP).

Seat-sharing agreement sparks protest

As per the agreement reached after two days of closed-door meeting between senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rio last week, it was decided that the NDPP will contest in 40 seats and the BJP in the remaining 20 seats.

The deal, mediated by Assam Chief Minister and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, however, sparked protests from a section of BJP workers and leaders.

The agreement has come as a shocker for those who had been lured to the BJP, allegedly with the promise of a party ticket. Fearing that the seat-sharing formula would deny them the party nominations, they are now demanding that the agreement be reviewed to make it 30:30 or the BJP should contest in all the 60 seats.

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At least 10 aspiring candidates of the BJP and their supporters under the banner of “BJP Forum” have been protesting in Dimapur ever since the deal was struck. Similar protests were also reported from state capital Kohima and other parts of the state.

“I was invited to join the BJP with the promise of a party nomination. But now it seems the scenario has changed,” said former MLA Naiba Konyak, who had joined the BJP from the NPF in February 2021 after being promised a BJP nomination from Tobu assembly constituency. Konyak told The Federal that he had a cent per cent winning prospect from the constituency and hence denying him the ticket would be a great injustice to him.

Another disgruntled BJP leader was Supu Jamir, who had switched over to the saffron party from the NDPP in August last year. He was reportedly assured a ticket from Dimapur-II assembly constituency.  Jamir unsuccessfully contested the seat as NDPP candidate in 2018. “The BJP has grown in Nagaland largely at the expense of its allies. Members of its own allies have been lured with promises of tickets and other benefits. But now it seems the party has chewed more than what it could swallow,” said a veteran Dimapur-based journalist and author Francis Kikon.

Disgruntled old guards

The seat-sharing arrangement has even angered a section of the BJP old guards, who feel that the organisations they had painstakingly developed in certain constituencies would come to naught if those seats are “given away” to the NDPP.

“Despite many hardships at the grassroots, the BJP workers have worked hard for the growth of the party (in Kohima district).  It will be very unfortunate if their aspirations and requests are ignored succumbing to the pressure of the alliance partners,” said president of the BJP’s Kohima district unit Khrielie Üsou.

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The unit is demanding that the BJP should field former legislator Kropol Vitsu from the district’s Southern Angami II assembly constituency. The district has seven seats. In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP left all the seats to the NDPP. A repeat of that would not be “accepted at any cost by Kohima district party workers,” Üsou warned.

The seeming “problem of plenty,” however, is not deterring the BJP from making further attempts to break its ally. According to BJP sources in Nagaland, back-channel parleys are on to rope in some senior members of the NDPP and Naga People’s Front, both constituents of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).

A four-time MLA and former minister Imkong L Imchen left the NDPP on Sunday to join the BJP. A few more NDPP legislators are also in touch with the BJP, sources added.

The NDPP has 48 legislators in the outgoing assembly. But as per the sea- sharing agreement with the BJP, it can field only 40 of them, which has made eight vulnerable to poaching.