New Delhi:
Finally the Neiphiu Rio government is back in the saddle in Nagaland. The Chief Minister seems to have preferred the 'status quo' in ministry formation, but inclusion of K G Kenye, a former Rajya Sabha member, in the cabinet and giving him the prized portfolios of Power and Parliamentary Affairs has some political significance.
On the eve of elections, AICC media coordinator Mahima Singh had charged the BJP central leadership and the Union government of trying to "remote control Nagaland government" by misappropriating agencies so that draconian laws like Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Uniform Civil Code may be "imposed".
In fact, Kenye has a direct CAA connection because in 2019 as the lone member of Rajya Sabha from the state, he had voted in favour of the much controversial Bill. He was then a NPF leader and for supporting the Bill he was suspended from his party.
Slowly, Kenye was compelled to quit the party and many thought that could bring curtains down on his political career. But Kenye's return to state politics and getting a cabinet berth is seen as "his political rehabilitation" in more ways than one. Grapevine is that the central BJP has perhaps 'indirectly' played a role in helping Kenye make a comeback to the state politics.
The amended citizenship law allows 'persecuted migrants' from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to become Indians, provided they are not Muslims.
This applies to Hindus, Christians, SIkhs, Jains and Buddhists -- meaning people who could be 'persecuted'. BJP's argument is Muslims are not persecuted in countries like Pakistan on the ground of religious identity. Protestors at the national level in Delhi and other places in 2020 had said the law discriminates against people on the basis of religion.
The controversy remains but Kenye's return to the political limelight is largely with BJP's blessings. In fact, Kenye now represents the Chizami Assembly segment. In 2018 this seat had fallen in the BJP quota.
But in 2023 polls, the saffron party easily gave away the seat to Chief Minister Rio-led NDPP. Of course, in the process, the BJP displeased a die-hard party candidate Kevechutso Doulo, who had lost the 2018 polls, by a slender margin of 404 votes.
This time, Kenye could benefit from a multi-cornered contest. He polled 43.28 percent of votes - that is 7088 - to beat the nearest LJP (Ram Vilas) rival Doulo by a margin of 1279 votes. While Doulo, who quit BJP to contest on LJP (Ram Vilas) ticket, could poll 5089 votes, NPP's Vevoyi Wideo could manage 3310 votes. This also means the presence of NPP nominee did help Kenye sail home comfortably.
To political detractors and others, the 'swiftness' with which the BJP gave away the seat to NDPP has raised eyebrows in many quarters. Closer scrutiny of NDPP-BJP politics on ground zero suggests Kenye will be a key leader to be watched in the present assembly. "Kenye's supporters campaigned that he could be a probable leader in the race for chief ministership in the event 72-year-old Chief Minister Rio thinks of an early retirement or will be keen to take up any other assignment outside Nagaland," a LJP leader had said.
But it is also true that to an extent, Kenye is virtually trapped. With the ticket given to him and now made minister, one question that naturally arises is -- has Kenye become a tool in the game of chess. Is it the saffron party's cool message that once you do our job, we know how to accommodate and rehabilitate our friends.
The answers to these questions lie in the womb of time. But local analysts in Nagaland feel more than the NDPP leadership or Chief Minister Rio himself, a section of BJP hardliners in Delhi will feel happy that Kenye has been 'rewarded' for the risks he took in 2019.
With regard to the CAA, in north-eastern states, the 'fear' is not about religion or Muslims. It is something else. The tribals in the north east say extending citizenship to 'migrants from Bangladesh' will result in natives and tribal people being swamped by "outsiders".
Needless to add, 'outsiders' is a powerful political word in Nagaland and also in other parts of the northeast. Let us rewind the clock to the 2019 parliamentary debate.
Kenye had taken the floor in Rajya Sabha in 2019 and said, ".....I will tell this House why I am supporting this Bill. I come from ground zero, the epicentre of this controversy. The issue has been taken off (out of) the context completely. What is raised at the regional level on the ground and what is happening at the national level has taken a completely different turn".
"...our people in the north-east have no religious bias," -- in fact Kenye was absolutely right in ventilating the grievance of the northeastern people including Nagas. The CAA, it is feared in the northeast, will virtually 'accommodate' influx of a huge number of Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh and would add to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led party’s vote share in Assam and in West Bengal.
The BJP's argument is -- the law was enacted originally in 1955 and it caters to 'persecuted religious minorities' in Afghanistan, Bangladesh (earlier East Pakistan) and Pakistan. It goes without saying that polarisation politics has always suited the BJP. Importantly yet again, conquering power in West Bengal in 2026 and more number of MPs in 2024 is a bigger target for the BJP and even the entire Sanghparivar, its fountainhead RSS.
Let us make the statistics clearer --- the entire north east sends 25 MPs including (Assam has 14) and West Bengal sends 42 MPs to Lok Sabha. In 2019, the BJP won 18 of them and obviously the target is much higher for 2024.
So, K G Kenye may be just a small-time player and his return to Nagaland politics and with a ministerial berth could revive the debates around CAA. Kevechutso Doulo is certainly one of the angry politicians in Nagaland these days. He was denied the BJP ticket because this seat was handed over to NDPP by his saffron party.
He has serious complaints against the party with which he was associated for a decade. "It is not for me to speak...NDPP has to answer why they needed the seat for a leader who backed CAA. I will not say much, it is a season of political blunders by champions like Neiphiu Rio," Doulo shares his anguish rather in a courteous manner.
Ends
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