Party Politics in North-East India

North East India is comprised of seven states, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. However Sikkim is often included in the entity.

Geographically, the entire region is almost isolated from that of the country, being surrounded
by Bangladesh, Bhutan and Tibet(China) and connected with the mainland through West Bengal
and Bihar. It has difficult terrain, with lofty mountains and lovely green valleys, interspersed by
numerous rivers. The entire region is unique in its nature for its diversity and variety, inhabited
by colorful races, the likes of which we do not find in any part of the world.

Politically as well, the region is very different from the rest of the country with numerous
political parties and insurgencies always in the picture. In recent years violence and insurgent
activities have reduced and we see less of it. The political environment is characterized by
constant defections and mergers altogether. So we have decided to take you all on a journey to
the changing political landscape of all the states in this region.

So let us begin with one of the important states, Assam.

Assam
Assam, a state in North East India is a home for many ethnic communities having different
cultures, languages and community organization.
Under British rule, Assam had a bicameral legislature but in 1947 it turned into unicameral. Till
1979, Congress ruled over Assam and gopinath bardoloi was the first chief minister of Assam.
Basically, All Assam Student ' Union was formed in 1967 but it got its popularity in 1979. As the
demand of removal of illegal migrants was raised the party got its base. The Assam movement
from 1979 to 1985 was raised, and AASU became so popular. In 1985 Assam accord was signed
and movement came to a halt and a new party formed famously known as :- Asom gana
parishad. Under the leadership of Prafull Mahanta, in the 1985 legislative election, Ason gana
parishad emerged as a ruling party, but it would no longer be able to rule.
This is the election of 1985.
Another important event happened in 1987 for the demand of a separate state for the Bodo tribe.
At that time the extremist wing of the Assam nationalist youth formed an underground
separatist movement, ULFA :-United liberation Front of Assam. Now in the 1991 election, Agp
lost the election because of its policies and was not able to stop the 1987 movement and again
congress emerged as a ruling party.

In 1996 , again AGP emerged as a ruling party but again not able to rule longer because of
internal factions.
This is the assembly election of 1996
From 2001 to 2016 congress ruled over Assam and tarun gogoi served as a chief minister of
Assam.

This is the assembly election of 2001

This is the assembly election of 2006

This is the assembly election of 2011

In the present political scenario, there are two other regional parties which are very popular.
AIUDF:- All India United democratic front and BPF :- Bodoland people's front . The major
climax in Assam politics emerged when in 2016 BJP emerged as a ruling party. Sabarnanda
sonewal emerged as a chief minister.
This is the assembly election of 2016

And in the 2021 election BJP again won. Himanta Biswa Sharma is serving as the chief minister
of Assam. Bjp got its support because it tried to take steps against Bangladeshi migrants and
other factors as well which helped BJP to win.
So far we analyzed the political history of Assam. The next state in line is Manipur.

Manipur

Manipur is a state in NorthEast India, with Imphal as its capital. During the days of the British
Indian Empire, the Kingdom of Manipur was one of the princely states. On 11 August
1947,Maharaja Budhachandra signed the Instrument of Accession, joining India. Later he signed
the Merger agreement on 21 September 1949 by which Manipur merged as the Part- C state. It
became a Union territory in 1956.And a complete state on 21 January 1972. The government of
Manipur is a collective assembly of 60 elected members, of which 19 are reserved for STs and 1
for SCs. The state sends 2 representatives to the Lok Sabha and 1 to the Rajya Sabha. The
legislature of the state is Unicameral.

1972 Manipur legislative Assembly elections-

-Total turnout was 75.89%.
-The Indian National Congress won 17 seats and won the elections
In 1974 Manipur legislative Assembly elections-
-Total turnout was 84.60%.
- Manipur Peoples Party won 20 seats and won the elections.
In 1980 Manipur Legislative Elections-
-Total turnout was 82.42%.
-INC won 13 seats.
-INC won the elections.
In 1984 Manipur Legislative Assembly Elections -
-Total turnout was 87.29%.
- INC won the elections by winning 30 seats.

In 1990 Manipur Legislative Assembly elections-

-Total turnout was 89.95%.
-INC won the elections by winning 24 seats.
In 1995 Manipur Legislative Assembly elections-
-Total turnout was 91.41%.
-INC won the elections.
-INC won 22 seats.

In 2000 Manipur Legislative Assembly Elections -

-Total turnout was 89.87%.
-New party Manipur State Congress Party which was founded by W. Nipamacha in 1997 won the
elections. -MSPC won 23 seats and won the elections.
-Nipamacha was appointed as CM.
 .

In 2002 Manipur Legislative Assembly elections-

-Total turnout was 90.38%.
-INC won the elections by winning 20 seats.
-Okram Ibobi Singh of INC was appointed as the CM.
In 2007 Manipur Legislative Assembly elections-
-INC won the elections. -Total turnout was 86.73%.
-INC won 30 seats.
 .

In 2012 Manipur Legislative Assembly elections-

-Total turnout was 79.19%. -INC won the elections.
- INC won 42 seats.

In 2017 Manipur Legislative Assembly Elections-

-Total turnout was 86.63%.
-BJP for the first time won Elections in Manipur.
-INC won the most 28 no. of seats but BJP which won 21 seats won because of coalition with
Naga People's front which won 4 seats , National people's Party which also won 4 seats and Lok
Jan Shakti Party which won 1 seat.
-N.Biren Singh of BJP was appointed as the CM.

-In 2022 Manipur Legislative Assembly elections-

-The elections were held in 2 phases.
-Total turnout was 90.28%.
-BJP won the elections by winning 32 seats and formed the government.
-N.Biren Singh was reappointed as the CM of Manipur.
 .

Tripura
Tripura is a state from seven sisters of India and previously was a princely state. Tripura joined
newly independent India in 1949 and became a union territory in 1956. A thirty member
electoral assembly was established . In 1957 this assembly was replaced by a council of 32
members popularly known as Tripura territorial council but in 1963 this TTC system was also
dissolved when Tripura became a separate independent state . Today Tripura's legislative
assembly has 60 constituencies.

1967 election:
1972 election:

The main political parties in Tripura are BJP ( bharatiya janata party), left front, all India
Trinamool Congress and Indian national congress. Until 1977 congress had dominated politics
and ruled the state as the governing party. Until 1977 CPI ( Marxist) was the second biggest
party . 1983's election was won by CPI by gaining 37 seats and Indian national congress was the
runner up. From 1988 to 1993 the Indian national congress and Tripura upajati Juba samiti
were in a ruling coalition. From 1978 to 1988 and then 1993 to 2018 CPI ( (Marxist) ruled the
state which is actually a long period. The reason behind this is the proclivity of people towards
communist thought process .Communism was in the roots of Tripura

However communist era ended in 2018' s legislative assembly election when BJP won the
majority of seats 40 from 60 seats by coalition with IPFT and emerged as the strongest and
governing party. IPFT and INPT are two major regional parties in Tripura.

Nagaland
Nagaland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Nagaland.
Nagaland became a state on 1st December 1963 and after elections in January 1964, the first
Nagaland legislative assembly was formed on 11th February 1964. Initially there were 40 seats
and it was increased to 60 in 1974. However, there were independent candidates for the majority
of seats.

In the elections of 1964 Nagaland Nationalist organization (NNO) formed the government for
the next two terms until 1969. In 1969 Hokishe Sema became the CM when NNO again won the
majority of seats.
 Party Name Seats
Nagaland Nationalist Organization (NNO) 22
United Front of Nagaland (UFN) 10
Independent (IND) 8
Total 40

After the previous elections in 1969, the number of constituencies were increased in 1974,
following the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission of India.

In the 1974 elections, United Democratic Front (UDF) formed the majority of seats and formed
the government. But by now the politics of defection started having its impact on Nagaland
Politics and soon the UDF lost its majority and NNO government took over.

Party Name Seats

Nagaland Nationalist Organisation (NNO) 23
United Democratic Front (UDF) 25
Independent (IND) 12
Total 60

The signing of the Shillong Accord in November 1975 brought about a major change in the
politics of Nagaland leading to the merger of NNO with the Congress.

From 1975 to 1977 Predident’s rule was in place due to defections and counter terrorism.

However in 1977 too, the UDF secured 35 seats as against 15 seats by the congress. Even then the
UDF ministry headed by Vizol fell in April 1980 when SC Jamir and his group quit the party to
form the United legislature Party. That same year, Jasokie, who had been elected on a Congress
ticket, formed the Naga National Party(NNP) and eventually NNP joined the UDF to form the
Nagaland National Democratic Party (NNDP)

Party Name Seats

Indian National Congress (INC) 15
United Democratic Front (UDF) 35
National Convention of Nagaland (NCN) 1
Independent (IND) 9
Total 60

Therefore, two mergers happened -

NNP + UDF = NNDP
NNO + Congress = Congress (I) or Congress

In the 5th elections in the state held in 1982, both the NNDP and Congress secured an equal
number of seats (24 each) in a house of 60 members. But the Congress succeeded in winning
over the 12 independents and formed the government with SC Jamir as the CM.

Then Jamir was replaced by Hokishe Sema in October 1986. This entire period in the electoral
politics of the state has been marked by constantly changing political formations and defections.

Party Name Seats

Indian National Congress (INC) 24
Naga National Democratic Party (NND) 24
Independent (IND) 12
Total 60

In the 1987 elections, INC won most seats, i.e.,34 and NNDP won 18, Naga People Front 1. INC
formed the government with Hokishe Sema as the CM.

Party Seats

INC 34

NND 18

NPP 1

IND 7

However from August 1988 to January 1989, President’s rule was imposed for the second time
because Hokishe Sema’s Congress government was reduced to a minority.
In the 1989 elections, again the INC secured most votes, i.e., 36. SC Jamir was appointed as the
CM. A new party called Nagaland People’s Congress secured 24 votes .

Party Name Seats

Indian National Congress (INC) 36
Nagaland Peoples Conference (NPC) 24
Total 60

Again from April 1992 to Feb 1993, Nagaland encountered a President’s rule. The reason being
fluid party position and deteriorating law and order situation.

For the next 10 years, we can see a stable INC government with SC Jamir as the CM. In the 8th
general elections in 1993, INC won 35 seats, Nagaland Peoples Council(new) won 17 seats,
Democratic labor party had 1 seat and the rest 7 were with Independents.

Party Name Seats

Indian National Congress (INC) 35
Democratic Labour Party (DLP) 1
Nagaland Peoples Conference (NPC) 17
Independent (IND) 7
Total 60

In the 9th Assembly elections in 1998, INC won 53 seats and again formed the government.
Regional Parties like Naga People’s Front did not contest these elections and they were joined by
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in this action. In 43 of the constituencies, The INC candidate
was the sole candidate and hence was declared the winner without a poll.

Party Name Seats

Indian National Congress (INC) 53
Independent (IND) 7
Total 60

2003 elections
 Party Name Seats
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 7
Indian National Congress (INC) 21
Janata Dal (United) JD(U) 3
Samata Party (SAP) 1
Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM) 5
Nagaland Peoples Front (NPF) 19
Independent (IND) 4
Total 60

It is from here that we start seeing the integration of BJP, though nominal, in the state politics.

Neiphiu Rio, who was previously the home minister in SC Jamir’s cabinet resigned and joined
Naga People’s Front. Naga People’s Front then partnered with BJP, Janata Dal (United), Samata
Party and together were called the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland. Though individually INC
got the majority of votes, Naga People’s Front with the other parties formed the government
with Neiphiu Rio as the CM.

From 3rd January 2008 to 12 March 2008, President’s rule was imposed which was the shortest
till now. The cause was the dismissal of the government after a controversial confidence vote
secured in the assembly by CM Neiphiu Rio.

In the 11 th assembly elections of 2008, Naga People’s Front won the election and Nephiu Rio
was reappointed as the CM.

PARTY NAME Seats

Bharatiya Janata Party 2
Independent 7
Indian National Congress 23
Nagaland Peoples Front 26
Nationalist Congress Party 2
Total 60

Again in the 2013 elections, Naga People’s Front won with 38 seats on its own and TR Zeliang
was appointed as the CM.
 Party Name Seats
Bharatiya Janata Party 1
Independent 8
Indian National Congress 8
Janata Dal (United) 1
Naga People's Front 38
Nationalist Congress Party 4
Total 60

The tenure of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly ended on 13th March 2018. The BJP led NDA
and the ruling Naga People’s Front dissolved their electoral alliance prior to the elections. The
BJP instead chose to form an alliance with the newly formed Nationalist Democratic Progressive
Party (NDPP) led by former CM Neiphiu Rio.
Therefore, in 2018 elections, NDPP (18 votes) with the support of BJP(12 votes) won the
elections and Nephiu Rio was appointed as the CM

S.No Party Won

1 Bharatiya Janata Party 12
2 Naga Peoples Front 27
3 Janata Dal (United) 1
4 National People's Party 2
5 Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party 16
6 Independent 1
7 Total 59
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India. It is part of what are called the seven sisters of the north
east of India. Itanagar is the capital of the state Arunachal Pradesh means "land of the dawn
little mountain" or "land of the rising Sun". This reason acquired an independent political status
in January 20,1972 when it was declared as union territory under the name of Arunachal
Pradesh. The Arunachal Pradesh bill was passed by the parliament in 1986 and with effect from
February 20, 1987 Arunachal Pradesh became the 24th state of Indian union. Arunachal
Pradesh has a unicameral system of legislative meaning it has one house of legislature, the state
legislative assembly.
The first election to the Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly was held on 25th February 1978.
Janata party won 17 seats,compared to 8 seats for the PPA that is people party's of Arunachal, 5
seats were won by Independent,Janata party won the election and Prem khandu became the
chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh

1978 election
Janata party = 17 seats

Second general election Indian National Congress won the most seats.The election was held on
3rd January 1980 Indian National Congress won 13 seats after the election there were massive
defections to the INC gegong apang was elected chief minister after the election.

1980 election
INC = 13 seats
From 1980-1995 the Indian National Congress won the popular seats and votes.
In third general election 1884 INC won 21 Seats out of 30 seats while people party's of
Arunachal (PPA) won 4 seats. Gegong Apang was sworn in a chief minister.

1984 election
INC = 21 Seats

In the 4rth Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly elections were held in 1990. INC won 37
seats out of 60 seats while JNP at 1 seat and independent at 11 seats, Janta dal at 11 seats.
Gegong Apang was re-elected as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

1990 election
INC = 37 seats
In 5th general election was held in 1995 INC won 43 seats out of 60 seats while 2 Seats for JNP,
and Independent at 12 seats, Janta dal at 3 seats. INC won the popular votes and majority of
seats and Gegong Apang was re-elected as chief minister.
 1995 election
INC= 43 seats

The 6th legislative election was held in October 1999. The Indian National Congress won 53
seats out of 60 seats and Mukut Mithi became the new chief minister, replacing Gegong Apang.

1999 election
INC = 53 seats
In the 2004 election 60 seats in Arunachal Pradesh,INC won 34 seats . The results were declared
on 10 October 2004.The Indian National Congress won the popular votes and a majority of seats
and Gegong Apang was re-elected as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

2004 election
INC = 34 seats

In 2009 again Congress party came back to power in the state with an increased majority
winning 42 seats in the 60 seats assembly. Dorjee Khandu became the new chief minister,
replacing Gegong Apang.

2009 election
INC = 42 seats

In 2014 Indian general election polls in Arunachal Pradesh for 2 lok sabha seats were held in a
single phase on 9th April 2014 Nabam Tuki became the new chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh
replacing Dorjee Khandu. INC won the election by winning 42 seats out of 60 seats and in this
election BJP got 11 seats.
 2014 election
INC = 42 seats

In the 2019 legislative election held in Arunachal Pradesh on 11th April 2019 . This results in a
landslide victory for Bharatiya Janata party and its allies. BJP won the election by scoring 41
seats in the assembly. Pema Khandu took oath as chief minister on 29 may 2019.

2019 election
BJP = 41 seats
Meghalaya
Meghalaya, an incredible state from the seven sisters of India was previously part of Assam but
on 21st January 1972 the districts of Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills became the new state of
Meghalaya. The state has one seat in lok sabha and 2 seats in rajya sabha. There are three
autonomous regional councils as well which are Garo hill district council, khasi hill district
council and Jaintia hill district council because of these autonomous units of governance,
Meghalaya government has a little less ruling power than other states however the legislative
assembly of Meghalaya has 60 constituencies.

All party hill leaders' conference and Indian national congress are the two major parties of
Meghalaya. There are some strong regional parties as well like UDP ( United democratic party)
and PDF ( public democratic front) who strongly challenged the dominance of national parties.

In the first election which was held in 1972, AHL won the highest number of seats and INC was
the runner up

In 1978's election INC became the ruling party by gaining maximum seats and APHLC was the
first runner up

.
In 1983 INC won the election and AHL and HDP both gained 15 seats and became the runner
ups.
In 1988's election INC became the governing party and HPU a new contender entered the
politics and became the runner up party.

In 1993 and 1998 congress had maintained the ruling position . In 2003 again congress won the
election and UDP emerged as runner up. In 2008's election Indian national congress was the
winning party and nationalist Indian congress was the runner up.
In 2013's election INC won and UDP was the runner up.
The latest election was held in 2018 in which INC was the winner and NNP ( national people's
party ) emerged as the second biggest party.

The sight of politics became very dramatic in 2008 when INC got the highest number of seats
but since no majority could be secured by it even after gaining 3 independent' s support, Lapang
resigned as chief minister in less than ten days .then a coalition called Meghalaya progressive
was formed comprising all non congress parties but this coalition barely survived a year and
again parties came up with congress.
Mizoram
Mizoram is a state in North eastern India with Aizawl as its capital city. Mizoram was
previously part of Assam until 1972.

In 1986 the Indian parliament adopted the 53rd amendment of the Indian constitution which
allowed for the creation of the state of Mizoram on 20 February 1987 as India's 23rd state.

Politics in Mizoram is dominated by two political fronts:- The Mizo National front and the
Mizoram Pradesh Congress committee, part of Indian National Congress. These two parties
have alternated in power since 1972.

The first Assembly election held in 1972 was won by the Mizo Union under the leadership of Pu
C. Chunga and was later merged with the Indian National Congress.

Election to the second Assembly was held in 1978 in which the People's Conference led by
Brig.T. Sailo had won with absolute majority. However, the Ministry broke down after 5 months.
The same party came into power in the next election.
The fourth Assembly was constituted in 1984, the Indian National Congress under the
leadership of Pu Lal Thanhawla won the election. However, with the implementation of the
Peace Accord between Mizo National Front (MNF) and Government of India, Pu Lal Thanhawla
vacated the Chief Ministership to make place for Pu Laldenga, President of MNF who became
the Chief Minister for a period of 6 months.
The status of Union Territory was upgraded to statehood by an Act of Parliament which was
passed in August, 1986.
The statehood was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 20 February 1987.The
first State Assembly elections was held in 1987.The Mizo National Front headed by Pu Laldenga
won the election. This Assembly lasted only for one year.

The second and third state assembly elections were held in 1989 and 1993 respectively. Indian
National Congress won the election under the leadership of Pu Lal Thanhawla. During the 1993
election Indian National Congress and Janata Dal formed a coalition government.
The 4th and 5th State assembly election was held in 1998 and 2003 respectively. The Mizo
National front led by Pu Zoramthanga won the election and came in power. However in 1998
mizo National front formed a coalition government with mizo people's conference but this
served their tie with the government for a short period of time but in 2003 the party came with
absolute majority.
The sixth and 7th state assembly election was held in 2008 and 2013 respectively the Indian
National Congress won the election under the leadership of Pu Lal Thanhawla. The party came
in power with a majority.

In 2018, the Eighth Assembly was elected which was won by Mizo National Front(MNF) led by
Pu Zoramthanga won with absolute majority.

Sikkim
Sikkim is known as a window of the himalayas. Interesting fact is that from 1642 to 16 may 1975,
Sikkim was ruled by a monarchical system famously known as chogyals of the Namgyal dynasty.
In 1975,Sikkim totally came under the rule of india. Until 1975 , Sikkim was recognised as a
protectorate state of india. But Sikkim is considered to be a Constitutional monarchy in which
there is a party system. In 1975 , a Referendum was passed and Sikkim became the
constitutional unit of India and abolished monarchy. Kazi Lhendup Dorji served as the first CM
of Sikkim from the Sikkim congress party.

On 12 October 1979, the 2nd assembly election was held in Sikkim. 16 seats were won by Sikkim
janata parishad. In 1985 Sikkim Sangram Parishad emerged as a ruling party with 30 seats.

Election of 1985.
In 4th assembly election was constituted in 1989 again sikkim sangram parishad won the
election by 32 seats.

Election of 1989.
In the 5th assembly election of 1994 , out of 32 seats, 19 seats were won by the Sikkim
democratic front and emerged as a ruling party.

Election of 1994.
Election of 1999
In the 6th assembly election of 1999 out of 32 seats, 24 were won by the SDF.

Election of 2004
In the 7th assembly election of 2004 ,31 seats were won by the sdf and 1 seat by the national
congress party.

Election of 2009
In the 8th assembly election of may 2009 again all the 32 seats were won by SDF.

The interesting fact is that Pawan Kumar Chamling is the longest serving chief minister of
Sikkim for about 24.5 yrs.

Election of 2014.
In the 9th assembly election of 2014 SDF again won by 22 seats.

Now major twist came in the 10 assembly election of 2019 , when sikkim kranti morcha won 17
seats and prem singh tamang is serving as a chief minister of sikkim. Sdf got only 15 seats.
Election of 2019.

So long we have learned the political history of sikkim. 🙂

Conclusion

Political parties in Northeast India developed in three phases from the 1920s. The first phase,
which existed in the pre-Independence period, saw the emergence of Congress as the principal
Congress party. The second phase (the late 1940s-1960s) was marked by the dominance of
Congress. Towards the end of this phase, the dominance of the Congress was challenged by
the local political leadership, especially in the hills of Assam. The third phase of the political
parties and party systems was marked by the emergence of several ethnic and regional parties.
The proliferation of political parties also marked this period. In this phase, the regional parties
play a decisive role in the politics of the region, generally as allies of the national parties or
alliances that control the central governments.

The national parties in Northeast India change their political strategy according to the local
context in the states. Although the regional parties focus on regional issues, they are influenced
by the national parties that control the central governments. Congress, most of the time before
the rise of the BJP, exercised influence on the regional parties and the state governments. Since
2014, the North-East Democratic Alliance(NEDA) which is a political coalition that was formed
on May 24, 2016, by Bharatiya Janata Party BJP has become the dominant political alliance
heading governments in all states (in 2021) of the region.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
DATA
❖ Wikipedia
❖ www.election.in
❖ https://eci.gov.in/

ANALYSIS AND FURTHER RESEARCH

❖ Jstor.org - For Nagaland Politics
❖ Youtube - Study Iq
❖ https://www.britannica.com/
❖ https://databank.nedfi.com/content/north-east-india