Trumping the tribal card : Does it really matter?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 04, 2012 -

A tribal by birth, but how well placed is Mr Purno A Sangma to bandy the tribal card and influence the North East States in his bid to enter Rashtrapati Bhavan ?

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, another tribal by birth, does not seem sold on the idea. Quite a few others seem to toe the line of the Meghalaya Chief Minister as it is only the Mizo National Front of Mizoram which has officially confirmed that it would be supporting the candidature of PA Sangma.

The Naga People's Front of Nagaland is yet to make up its mind, though indications are that the State unit of the NPF may go in for Pranab Mukherjee.

A Congressman and therefore bound by the whip of the AICC to fall in line and go for the UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, Mukul Sangma's stand on the tribal card played by the other Sangma may be taken with a pinch of salt, but the question of greater import is whether such a question as a tribal card really matters for the office of the President.

On a slightly larger canvass, does it really matter from where the President of India comes ?

Will it matter to the people of the North East, say the people of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura if the next person at Rashtrapati Bhavan happens to be someone from the region ?

In the face of the daunting task ahead, especially when it comes to the question of cold statistics, PA Sangma has been banking on not only the tribal card, to woo the North East States, but also on what he has termed the conscience vote.

Interesting, since election to the post of the President may cut across the divide spawned by political parties, which in another word says that individual MLAs and MPs should and can act according to what their mind and heart desire.

The hand of real politiks is not insignificant in the run up to the Presidential election and the interesting question is not exactly who will make it to Rashtrapati Bhavan, but the political compulsions behind the series of alignment and re-alignment among the different political parties.

Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress set the ball rolling when she along with the strongman from Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party announced that their choice would be former President Abdul Kalam.

This did not end there, with Mulayam Singh backtracking just a day later and pitching in for UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee and Abdul Kalam making it clear that he would not be in the fray.

The BJP, which had then remained non-committal made the circle complete by announcing that it would be backing the candidature of PA Sangma.

Amid this development, Mamata Banerjee has been remaining non-committal, not endorsing the candidature of either PA Sangma or Pranab Mukherjee.

The shadow of the Parliamentary election, due in two years time, is significant but it is unlikely that the tribal card pitched up by PA Sangma will have a major impact on the outcome in the North East States.

What however remains purely in the realm of speculation is what impact it will have on the political career of the man from Meghalaya.