The northeast states of India are often mentioned in the context of separatist movements and insurgency. But these states are also examples of faith and political awareness in the democracy.
On the one hand, separatist movement, demand for sovereignty and on the other side expressing faith in the Constitution of the country, increased participation in the elections. It may seem contradictory to hear both of these things. But this is the ground reality in the North-Eastern states. Voters in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya have once again proved this. The awareness of political rights in the governing states of the Left Front is not new. This awareness has been observed on the occasion of elections in West Bengal and Kerala. Left in power in the Northeastern state of Tripura is in power for some two and a half decades. As a result, this state has always been in heavy voting.
In the Vidhan Sabha elections of the year 2008, 91 percent voting was registered in the state. Next time, in 2013, it increased to 91.8 percent. But in the upcoming Assembly elections, about 92 percent of people voted for a new record. Tripura’s chief election officer Shriram Taranikanti says, “89.8 percent of the votes for the state’s 59 seats were cast. But after adding the postal ballot, the figure will reach 92 percent.”
In addition to Tripura, in addition to the activism of all militant organizations in Nagaland, apart from the decades-old demands of different states, appeals of election boycott and adverse conditions, over 80 percent of the voting has been conducted. Earlier this time, all the parties including BJP had announced not to participate in the elections. They demanded that elections for the decades-old Naga problem be resolved, only after elections. But later all the parties agreed to participate in the electoral process. The Naga organization is very powerful in the state and the guidelines of the election are decided only on the instructions. In spite of this, if it is so heavily polled, it can be considered as a people’s faith in democracy. 90 percent of the votes were cast in the last assembly elections. In the Meghalaya, which is called the North-east of Scotland, the voting percentage of ABC has crossed 70 percent. Despite all the problems, unemployment and backwardness, people’s involvement in elections is remarkable.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, the voting percentage in most of the North-Eastern states was around 80 percent. In states like Nagaland (87.82 percent) and Tripura (85 percent), it surpassed the national average of 66.4 percent of the vote.
After all, why is there such contradiction in democracy and society? On the one hand, in the demand for a different state, on the other hand, the biggest festival of democracy, in the elections, increased participation in the elections in comparison to the other states of the country. Political observers say that its roots are hidden in the literacy rates in the area and socio-political awareness towards their rights. All the regions of the state are young compared to the other states of the country and the generation born after getting a separate state status is still young. People have better literacy rates and they are conscious of their rights.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar says, “With the increase of literacy in the people of the state, awareness of their rights has also increased, they know that using franchise is a positive change in society and politics, which is why always in the state The average of the voting is higher than the other parts of the country. ”
“The decades-old Naga problem and adverse conditions, people are quite aware of their democratic and constitutional rights,” says Naghey, the former chief minister of Nagaland and the foremost in the race to form a new government. Rio, who combines BJP with a new organization named National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), says that people know that their problems can only be solved by staying within the constitutional boundaries. But is this photo not contradictory? On this question, RIO says, “It is not that movement and extremism are in its place, but the confidence of the people in the area has not diminished for democracy like in the rest of the country, there is no indifference towards elections in the state.”
Supervisors say that the North Eastern states have consistently multiplied in the biggest festival of democracy and have once again transformed the saying of unity in diversity. People from other parts of the country can also learn lessons from this mindset of the people of the area. It would be correct to say that in this case, the North East can show a new path to the rest of the country.
