GUWAHATI: A joke on social media summed up the upset in Nagaland where the Congress came out of oblivion to win the lone parliamentary seat.
The joke is about the defeat of the NDA's consensus candidate Dr Chumben Murry of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). Murry lost to the Congress' S Supongmeren Jamir despite enjoying the support of all the 60 MLAs, including Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, in the state.
The case of the Congress in Nagaland has been that of the proverbial phoenix that is said to have risen from the ashes.
The Congress ruled the Christian-majority state multiple times but virtually slipped into history after the era of former Chief Minister SC Jamir had come to an end in 2003.
The Naga People's Front (NPF), which had decimated the Congress in the election of that year, was at the helm for three terms on the trot. In 2018, the newly-floated NDPP stopped the NPF's juggernaut by rising to power in alliance with the BJP. This formation retained power in 2023 by sweeping the polls.
All this while beginning 2003, the Congress kept losing the space. The party was virtually lost in the state. It neither had any organisational strength nor charismatic leaders. It got so weakened that it could not win even a single seat in the 2023 polls.
In such a backdrop, the Congress went to the polls. Not many perhaps thought it can take on the might of the ruling NDA parties but it stunned everyone.
Jamir, who is the state Congress chief and a former MLA, thanked the voters for reposing their faith in him. He felt that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which passed through Nagaland, had an impact on the voters.
“The wave in the Congress’ favour was created by Rahul ji during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. People wanted to safeguard democracy. We, the Nagas, stand for equality and it means there should not be any discrimination against anyone on the basis of religion or whatever,” Jamir, a law graduate who earned the sobriquet “Superman” this election, told this newspaper on Wednesday.
He said the mandate in his favour was a reflection of people’s desire for change. He believed the victory would help revive the Congress in the state.
“I have no doubt now about the revival of the Congress in Nagaland. The leaders of the party have decided to go to the grassroots level and try to figure out the problems being faced by people,” he said.
Observers say the Congress’ march to victory from zero in Nagaland will also inspire the workers of the party elsewhere in the Northeast to work with renewed vigour.
If the results of this election are anything, the Congress has also got revived in Manipur and Meghalaya. It upset the NDA by winning the two seats in ethnic violence-hit Manipur and the Tura seat in Meghalaya.
Except for two years from 1989 to 91, Tura had been with the family of former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma since 1977.