"Organisational weakness and lack of leadership have seen the Congress in a bad shape in the northeastern states including Tripura," political analyst and writer Sanjib Deb told IANS. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have never really been able to step into the shoes of their ancestors," Datta, also a renowned writer, concluded. "There was a time when the people of the northeast, especially the vast multitude of tribals, could connect with the Nehrus and Gandhis -- Jawaharlal, Indira and Rajiv -- but that has been lost. "The debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the series of political initiatives taken by the BJP have led to the Congress yielding ground in major portions of the region," Datta said.The Congress was the preferred political choice among the people of the region since independence and through the creation of a host of separate states, he said. "After the BJP captured power for the first time in Assam, keeping this victory as a milestone, the party is in a jubilant mood in all the eight northeastern states and aims to step up its activities in the region," Deb told IANS.Earlier, in mid-February, the Congress government was toppled in Arunachal Pradesh.

Source: Economic Times June 14, 2016 09:33 UTC