ABSTRACT
In Northeast India, regional politics assumed ethnic connotations as ethnic identity is mixed with regional identity and consciousness. The ethno-regional parities in the region emerged out of ethno-regional movements articulating the ethno-regional demands and cherishing ethno-regional ideology which strives to serve the political aspiration of particular ethnic communities. Northeast India is considered to be a strong political bastion of the Congress Party for a long time, despite the highly volatile identity politics, ethnic assertions, extremist activities, and strong sense of alienation of some ethnic communities from the national mainstream. However, the emergence of Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist party, whose ideology and programmes often contradict the ethos of the region (as most of the states have Christianity as the predominant religion), as a potential political force has to be analysed in the larger context of the decline of ethno-regionalpParities and the existential crisis of Congress Party.
