Communists lose ground in hill dists

Guwahati: The picturesque hill districts of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao seem to have lost their love for Red.
Communists, especially of the Marxist-Leninist kind, have almost lost control over Karbi Anglong; firstly, due to the rise of regional parties, and secondly, because of growing influence of national parties such as Congress and BJP.
Both districts are administered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
In the 1990s, CPI-ML (L), under Jayanta Rongpi, won the two districts' lone Lok Sabha seat four times. He represented the constituency as CPI-ML (L) MP in 1999, with a voting percentage of 53.98 percent. In 1998, he won the seat as Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) candidate, garnering 47.08% vote. In 1991 and 1996, too, he represented the constituency in Parliament.
The ASDC was formed by CPI (ML) in the 1980s. Over the years, it emerged as a major political force in the twin districts and spearheaded the movement for an autonomous state.
The two districts together have five assembly seats Diphu, Baithalangso, Howraghat and Bokajan in Karbi Anglong and Haflong in Dima Hasao. In the 1990s, ASDC won many of the assembly seats, but from 2000 its influence began waning.
"Division within ASDC caused the party's downfall," political observer Sanju Bora said. He added that the division of ASDC started from 2000 and, by 2006, the party had broken into three factions.
Another Karbi Anglong-based commentator Pobitra Bora said the downfall of ASDC led to the growth of Congress as people turned away from the regional party in subsequent elections. "The downfall of regional and Left forces like CPI-ML (L) is complete this election. Congress and BJP, the two national parties, dominate the political landscape of Karbi Anglong," Pobitra said.
In 2011, all five seats were captured by Congress, while the same party won four of the five seats in 2006. ASDC could manage to win only Bokajan seat in Karbi Anglong in the 2006 assembly polls.
Since the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP has started making inroads in the hill districts, especially in Karbi Anglong. Though Congress won the lone parliamentary seat in 2014, BJP emerged runner-up.
"BJP's growth is primarily because of anti-incumbency against Congress. Many of the Congress leaders in the districts were promoting family-centric politics," Bora explained.
Also ahead of the parliamentary polls, a new regional political outfit, Hill State Demand Party (HSDP), was floated, but it failed to make an impact. Even in this assembly election, HSDP leaders are contesting as independent candidates.