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Who Will the Northeast Vote For? Top Editors Give Their Take

So who’s winning the Northeast? What are the biggest issues? The Quint speaks to three top editors of the Northeast.

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Video Editor: Varun Sharma

Northeast India has 25 seats in the Lok Sabha. Although the number may seem insignificant compared to the number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal or Bihar, the Northeast has  an interesting mix of big daddies of politics like the BJP, the Congress, regional parties like the AGP and newcomers like the Conrad Sangma-led NPP.

The Editors’ Take

So who’s winning the Northeast? What are the biggest issues? How critical are these 25 seats for the next party which will come to power in the Centre?

To answer all these questions and much more, we spoke to three top editors of the Northeast who cover news across print, television and digital. They know the Northeast and its politics better than anyone else.

Wasbir Hussain is the editor-in-chief of Northeast Live, the region's first English language news channel. Prashanta J Baruah is the executive editor of The Assam Tribune, the Northeast’s first English-language daily. The newspaper was founded in 1939 and has a daily circulation of more than 7 lakh. It is the highest circulated daily in the Northeast. And finally we spoke to Karma Paljor. Karma is the editor-in-chief of East Mojo, northeast India’s newest digital news media player. Karma comes with more than two decades of journalistic experience in news and business television.

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The Biggest Issue in the Northeast

When it came to issues, all three agreed that it was the Citizenship Amendment Bill that will dominate the discourse in these elections. It has clearly hijacked the attention from other pertinent issues like development. Although the bill was not passed in the parliament, the indigenous people of the Northeast especially in Assam still see it as a threat to their identity, existence and rights.

The noise around the bill also took a communal colour as some politicians tried to make a religious pitch. Most editors felt that the voters in the region were more concerned about their identity and by bringing religion into the Citizenship issue leaders from the BJP were going against the ethos of the Assam Accord of 1985. The accord clearly states that all illegal foreigners irrespective of their religion would be identified and deported.

Vikas: Did BJP Deliver on its Promises?

Most editors agreed that the NDA government did deliver on some of its development promises for the region. At least the perception and optics are there. Connectivity has always been the major problem in the region but in the last five years there were major improvements in road, rail and air connectivity.

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BJP Vs Congress: Who will win the Northeast?

"We have seen the rise of parties like NPP led by Conrad Sangma who are with the NDA. States like Sikkim, Nagaland and Mizoram send just one MP and they have a tendency to side with the ruling party in the Centre. So BJP and NDA has an upper-hand. But in many states Congress is the main Opposition so they cannot be ignored," said Wasbir Hussain.

Karma Paljor, the editor-in-chief, is predicting at least 15 seats for NDA in the Northeast despite the Citizenship Amendment Bill fiasco.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:  Elections   Northeast   2019 

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