POLITICS
End of Free Movement Regime: GoI loses a crucial element in its Act East policy
There was considerable pressure from the Manipur government to scrap the FMR. The task of fencing the 1,643 km India-Myanmar border with its hilly, forested terrain could be as difficult as the still unfinished India-Bangladesh border fencing
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
Mizoram verdict confirms it – The North-East is (almost) Congress-free
No amount of social media likes and Insta reels can save the Grand Old Party in the North-East. BJP is sitting pretty in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura with its leaders being heard in Delhi. An interesting possibility is a new coalition of North-East parties to highlight indigenous voices. Congress figures nowhere in the popular discourse
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
No violence, no hate speech: What Mizoram elections can teach the rest of India
Mizoram Elections 2023: Despite the violence in neighbouring Manipur, Mizoram goes to the polls after concluding a peaceful election campaign without the abhorrent practices seen in many other Indian states like political violence, hate speech and cash for votes. Of course, drugs are a problem but that transcends politics
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
Mizoram Elections 2023: Three reasons why Manipur violence doesn’t impact the assembly polls
Mizoram Elections 2023: What we saw in Mizoram was a "Mizo" response to the crisis in Manipur and the refugee influx, not an MNF response. The opposition ZPM response would have been no different, thereby negating any Manipur effect. Moreover, there is no dearth of local issues relating to the crisis-ridden economy and narcoterrorism for the opposition to corner Zoramthanga
BUSINESS
Ethnic violence a death knell for a weak economy like Manipur
Whatever hopes that the people of Manipur had of a turnaround in the dismal unemployment numbers through the coming of Railways and government claims of private investment have been belied by the outbreak of violence, which is now continuing for over a month
POLITICS
Assam: AFSPA left a bloody trail. The sooner it goes, the better
Assam CM Himanta’s promise to lift the draconian AFSPA law, which gives legal immunity to armed forces and left a trail of bloodshed and injustice in its wake, heralds a new dawn for the Northeast’s biggest state. Improvements in Assam’s security situation led to this. Divisive political rhetoric mustn’t create new faultlines for re-emergence of violence
BUSINESS
Manipur Violence: A painful reminder that the traumas of the past remain strong in the Northeast
From legitimate action against those encroaching on protected forests to a CMs campaign against illegal immigrants and the Meitei demand for inclusion in the ST category, emotions unleashed by a host of grievances combined to devastating effect in Manipur. The Northeast’s tragedy is that such faultlines can explode at any moment
POLITICS
The message in Nagaland’s mandate to NDPP-BJP: Work hard, deliver on promises
The NDPP-BJP have won a comfortable victory, while Nagaland voters have given enough seats to smaller parties who will hopefully play the role of a constructive opposition. Will the ruling alliance satisfy people’s craving for development or disappoint them like the Congress did
BUSINESS
Tripura Elections: The state is in better shape than 2018. But did BJP blunder by overpromising?
Public health improvements, free foodgrains during the pandemic, and marginal fall in unemployment since 2018 gives the BJP comfort in Tripura. But its rivals are going to town over the lofty promises made to voters in the last elections
BUSINESS
Tripura polls: All bets on BJP encore are off as erstwhile royal Pradyot Manikya upturns tribal heartland politics
BJP and the CPI(M)-Congress alliance fancy their chances in the Tripura assembly elections but are wary of the TIPRA Motha. In a hung assembly, Pradyot Manikya Debbarman could be kingmaker. Or king
