The focus now would be on the next two Assembly elections that are coming up — in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. But it is clear that the MNF is the first regional party in the region that has managed to call the shots vis-a-vis the BJP, which seems to have engulfed the region insofar as assuming power is concerned. The polls in Manipur saw the BJP bagging a decent number of seats, although the Congress was still the single largest party. It is challenges like these that have perhaps compelled the BJP in a state like Assam to hold on to its regional ally, the Asom Gana Parishad, despite a bitter war of words during the just concluded panchayat elections. Chakma emerged victorious from the Buddhist Chakma-dominated Tuichwang constituency. While remaining a part of the Assam government, the AGP is opposing the BJP’s move to amend the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship rights to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh and other neighbouring nations who may have fled their countries due to alleged persecution. However, it simply cannot afford to be complacent.Then in the state elections that followed in Tripura, and Meghalaya, the BJP managed a spectacular performance, particularly when it managed to overthrow the 25-year-old CPI(M)-led Left Front rule in Tripura. The MNF had been a bitter opponent of the BJP during the campaign despite being a constituent unit of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a front floated by the saffron party immediately after its victory in Assam in 2016. Mizoram was the last bastion of the Congress Party in the Northeast. First it was Assam in 2016, where the BJP bagged 61 of the 126 seats in the state Assembly, just two short of the halfway mark. Despite this, the BJP is tolerating the regional party.

The writer is a political commentator and editor-in-chief of Northeast Live, the only English-language satellite news channel in the Northeast. It won one seat when party candidate B. But among the first announcements that MNF leader Zoramthanga made after the victory was that his party would continue to support the NDA and remain a part of NEDA.It was in this backdrop that the Mizoram elections were held. The BJP had been contesting elections China Party Tent for sale in Mizoram since 1993. The Congress Party too tried to push the MNF to the wall by saying it had a secret alliance with the BJP, but that allegation did not work.There are several other takeaways from the Mizoram elections that indicate the possible voter behaviour in the coming days. In Nagaland, a Christian-dominated state, the BJP won 12 seats and became a part of the government led by the regional NDPP. Can the MNF then be credited with halting the BJP’s march in the Northeast? The BJP may have opened its account in Mizoram, but it has not done as well as it expected. But the BJP, with superfast manoeuvres, stitched up an alliance with the National People’s Party, the Naga People’s Front and others. Mr Chakma had joined the BJP after deserting the Congress, and therefore many said it should be considered a personal victory for Mr Chakma rather than a BJP win. The BJP had a deputy chief minister installed. By taking this stand, the MNF gained considerable backing from the powerful Church in Mizoram that had been apprehensive of the BJP and its "Hindutva ideology" spreading in the largely Christian state.Can the BJP then take the Northeast for granted in 2019? Perhaps not.

The relevance of regionalism in the country was further demonstrated by another regional party, the Zoram People’s Movement, led by former IPS officer Lalduhoma, which has emerged as the main Opposition party in Mizoram by winning eight seats. That the BJP was fighting its first serious election in Mizoram was indicated by the fact that it put up candidates in 39 of the 40 seats.Ahead of 2019, the BJP in the Northeast is strong no doubt, but does not appear to be invincible, as the MNF has demonstrated. When the BJP realised that the MNF, its constituent in the regional platform NEDA, was not going to enter into an alliance, the party decided to go it alone. Five-time chief minister Lal Thanhawla lost both the seats he had contested from (Champhai South and Serchhip).Mizoram needs funds from the Centre to rebuild its moribund roads and other basic infrastructure, and that appears to be the primary reason why the MNF or Mr Zoramthanga for that matter has said they would continue to back the NDA.True, the MNF helped the BJP fulfil its stated objective of achieving a "Congress-mukt Northeast", but at the same time, the MNF has actually halted the BJP juggernaut in the region.The little-noticed elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly came up with a far-reaching verdict — the victory of regionalism in the form of the Mizo National Front (MNF) winning an absolute majority, with 26 seats. The margin by which the Congress has been defeated — it managed only five seats despite being in power for 10 years at a stretch — demonstrates an absolute rout of the party. Therefore, the Mizoram polls were seen as a direct battle between Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi — the former anxious about retaining a stronghold in the region, and the latter desperate to open the BJP’s account in the state. The MNF refused to have any alliance with the BJP in the state, saying that there was a serious "clash of ideologies" between the two parties. But one cannot deny the fact that the BJP has opened its account in Mizoram. That was no problem because its regional allies, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People’s Front, had won enough seats.

.New Delhi: The Congress is facing an "existential crisis", senior party leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said, pitching for "a collective effort" by party leaders to "overcome" the challenges it faced from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The party really is in deep crisis," he said, when asked whether the threat of "poaching" of MLAs posed by the BJP in Gujarat had forced the party to transport its MLAs to Karnataka to ensure party leader Ahmed Patel’s victory in the Rajya Sabha polls."I think in all probability, Rahul Gandhi will take charge (as Congress president) before the end of 2017," he said. Huge challenge for us," he said. We must recognise this Wholesale Foldable Gazebos is a big challenge."We have to understand we are up against Mr Modi, Mr Shah."Asked if there is anyone in the Congress party to give a strong challenge to Modi in 2019 elections, Ramesh said, "I have always maintained that it is the collective strength of the Congress that will overcome Mr Modi not some individual magic wand"."I thought it will happen in 2015, it didn’t happen. The party had also faced "electoral crisis" in 1977 when it lost the elections held soon after the emergency."Ramesh, representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, expressed hope that the "revival" of Congress will happen in Karnataka next year as it had happened 40 years ago in 1978 in Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat in the state which gave political rebirth to Indira Gandhi who faced defeat in Rae Bareli in the elections held after the Emergency.

It is not an electoral crisis. State elections, national elections."I have only expectation.He said the Congress party must also recognise that India has changed."But today, I would say that the Congress is facing an existential crisis.He said he had "no" indication about appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president. "Old slogans don’t work, old formulas don’t work, old mantras don’t work.He said Nitish Kumar’s return to the Indian fold was a big setback for anti-BJP coalition in the country, describing it as a "completely betrayal of the mandate" given to the Mahagathbandhan by the people of Bihar.He said it was wrong for the Congress party to think that anti-incumbency will work automatically against the Modi-led government in the states being ruled by the BJP in the elections..and this type of thing . I thought it will happen in 2016, it didn’t happen. They don’t want to see old mantras, old slogans.He said the Congress had faced "electoral crisis" from 1996 to 2004 when it was out of power.

That’s all.Ramesh also said that business as usual approach will not work against Modi and Shah and advocated for a flexibility in approach to make Congress relevant.He, however, justified the Gujarat Congress’s decision to send 44 of its MLAs to a resort in party-ruled Karnataka on July 29 to fend off the alleged "poaching" attempts by BJP, saying the saffron party had also "transported" MLAs in the past.Ramesh, who shares a personal rapport with Kumar, said, "personally, I was aghast, astonished, deeply disappointed, but we have to move on and we don’t have time. I feel that it may happen before the end of 2017," Ramesh said."I think there is a lot of goodwill for the Congress, a lot of support for the Congress but people want to see a new Congress. We have to completely redo the way of thinking, the way of acting, the way of projecting, the way of communicating. India has changed, the Congress party has to change," he said.. And they think differently, they act differently, and if we are not flexible in our approach, we will become irrelevant, frankly," the Congress leader said. In 2018 and 2019 you will be busy with elections..Ramesh took a potshots at party leaders who still behave as if the party is still in power."It has to be a collective effort," he said.The former union minister hoped that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would end the uncertainty over his taking over as the Congress president to make the party ready for crucial electoral battles in key states in 2018 and the Lok Sabha polls scheduled a year later.The senior leader lamented that he had been proved wrong in the past about his prediction about Rahul’s assuming charge of the top party job. So I am the wrong person to ask this question."The sultanate has gone, but we behave as if we are sultans still."Yes, the Congress party is facing a very serious crisis," Ramesh said in an interview.uncertainty is not good," and urged the Gandhi scion to "finish it off.