The one-day conclave themed ‘Regional aspiration, national outlook’ organized by the National People’s Party’s (NPP) at Itanagar has received rave reviews from critics as well as the public.
The conclave saw a large turnout of ordinary citizens who wanted to hear more about the regional aspirations of various northeastern states. The NPP has managed to attract the attention of young Arunachalees by organizing the conclave.
It is too early to say whether the party will reap any political benefits from the event but there is no denying that conclave managed to push the agenda for the need of strong regional parties.
While regional parties have been performing strong in NE states like Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam, the situation is just the opposite in Arunachal Pradesh. The only regional party of the state, the People’s Party of Arunachal has often been used as a political transit camp.
The sense of regionalism lacks among the politicians of the state. The politicians of Arunachal have often remained puppets of national parties like the Congress and BJP.
The present BJP government in the state is controlled by the BJP and RSS leaders sitting in Delhi and Nagpur, respectively. Even during the Congress era too, the leaders used to rush to Delhi even for small complaints regarding the functioning of the party in Arunachal.
Most political decisions are imposed on Arunachalee politicians from Delhi by their bosses. Often, some of the decisions are against the interest of the state but tribal politicians tend to succumb to the pressure of their bosses. In this context, the NPP’s conclave has assumed significance.
The young generation of Arunachalees are not comfortable with policies of national parties and are increasingly looking towards parties like NPP which advocates for a strong regional identity.