Kohima, March 3: The BJP, having proved the pundits wrong by notching up six seats in Christian-dominated Nagaland, is now looking at the big picture, that of taking part in a government likely to be headed by the Nagaland People’s Front.
With the six seats, the BJP has also sought to counter arguments that it has peddled “Hindutva” to garner votes. “We have been arguing that the allegation (peddling Hindutva) is not true. It only proves our point in states which are predominantly Christian,” said Avinash Kohli, co-ordinator of the state unit.
The party has a minuscule presence in Manipur Assembly with two MLAs, including chief minister O. Ibobi Singh’s nephew Daning Shaiza. “We have received congratulatory calls from partymen in Mizoram who have been encouraged tremendously by our victory in Nagaland,” said Kohli.
The BJP leader said they had worked on a specific strategy for campaigning in the three states. As part of that, senior leaders during their rallies did not mention the Gujarat victory. They spoke, instead, of corruption by the Congress and the BJP’s intention to resolve the political issue.
Therefore, when Mani Shankar Aiyar tried to hammer the point that the BJP was the “hand behind the curtain” to pull the state into communal carnage, it was, perhaps, too late. It might seem odd in a Christian-majority state to see the Hindutva bandwagon garner 10 per cent space in the Assembly, but the party has been nibbling into support since 1986.
More interestingly, the party’s chief ministerial candidate and former chief minister Hokishe Sema had defeated BJP candidate M.C. Zeliang in 1993.
“Ten years ago, we did not even know that a party called the BJP existed,” recalls an old-timer in Dimapur. But Lanu, a Congressman from Jangpetkong in Mokokchung, has a logical explanation, “The BJP has worked here for 10 years and now they are getting the results.”
Apart from hanging around, the BJP’s position as the biggest constituent in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s charisma have certainly made a lot of difference. “Vajpayee is the kind of man who can resolve a problem,” said H.S. Rotokha, an underground leader-turned-Congressman.
Perhaps the man on the street felt that the state might get better support from a party which is in power in Delhi. Sensing the pulse, the BJP harped on development, which, it said, would only be possible if the “corrupt” Congress is ousted.