E-Paper
Centre’s support, funds dictate power dynamics in north-east
In Arunachal Pradesh, 43 of the ruling Congress’ 44 MLAs joined the regional People’s Party of
The states in the north-east are often at the mercy of the ruling party or coalition in New Delhi as they are dependent on the funds from the Centre. While some states like Sikkim are able to fend off Delhi’s influence by generating resources through tourism, others buckle under pressure.
Arunachal Pradesh, where 43 of the ruling Congress’ 44 MLAs joined the regional People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) on Friday, is an example of the latter.
“We are a small state with little or no resources. Being in the good books of Delhi is crucial for running the government here,” Chowna Mein, the frontier state’s deputy chief minister, said after the switchover. Timber was Arunachal Pradesh’s main source of revenue but the Supreme Court’s ban on felling in 1996 affected the state’s balance sheet.
The pressure got to Gegong Apang, the state’s then Congress chief minister, who revolted against prime minister PV Narasimha Rao and formed the breakaway Arunachal Congress with 54 Congress MLAs. The Arunachal Congress became a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
In 2003, Apang and his supporters joined the BJP and helped the party get its first, though short-lived government. A year later, Apang switched to Congress but dissidence made him quit. The Congress retained power in 2014, but CM Nabam Tuki found it hard to deal with Delhi. “Apart from interference from BJP, there is the squeezing of funds,” he had said.
Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi too felt the squeeze from Narendra Modi’s NDA government. “The central government drastically reduced funds for central schemes and also changed the funding pattern from 90:10, where 90% was given by the Centre, to 50:50,” he said in January this year.
Arunachal Pradesh annually spends an average of Rs 6,000 crore more than what it generates through its tax and non-tax revenue. Other north-eastern states facing financial crisis, allegedly because of the Centre’s indifference, are the Congress-ruled Meghalaya and Manipur. The ruling party in both these states is grappling with dissidence.
