GUWAHATI: Congress finds itself friendless in the northeast in its preparations for the Lok Sabha election, with its fight turning into a test of survival and not one for victory in the region.Congress has eight MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha. And while BJP speaks of expansion, Congress has to plan for survival.Until just five years ago, the region was a Congress stronghold. The historic association of each state's formation with subsequent Congress governments at the Centre had lent it a political capital its regional units could bank on. It had few regional alliances, but never needed too many either. When it did rely on coalition politics, the arrangements were never too stable but did not come in the way of Congress retaining its bastions.But the 2014 Lok Sabha election changed all that. Since then, Congress has been ceding ground to BJP and its allies - first, Assam , followed by Manipur , Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and, finally, Mizoram . In Tripura, it went from being the primary opposition party to not winning a single seat in the assembly election last year. Its fate in Nagaland was similar.By now, the Grand Old Party has barely any footprint in the region. So what is it counting on for a comeback? "BJP has messed up. Today, when the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha election dates, it could not announce the dates for the Jammu & Kashmir elections. This shows the poll panel is not convinced the situation there is conducive to holding assembly elections," North East Congress Coordination Committee chairperson and former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma told TOI."Over the past five years, this government has made a mess of everything handed to it by the UPA government. Just imagine the situation in the northeast had the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill been passed. BJP wants to create a situation in the northeast similar to the one they have created in Jammu & Kashmir," he added.If Congress were to gain an advantage over BJP because of the resentment over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which sought citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, it would have to move fast to turn it into a political gain. And that would need support from allies."Congress may not have friends in its fight against BJP at the moment, but friends can always be made post-poll," Sangma said. The arrangement had worked out in Karnataka last year and Congress has gotten better at striking partnerships after elections. Besides, if the national verdict were to be favourable, it would find itself in a better negotiating position with possible allies. "We are aware of the challenges. Every election is serious and there is no room for complacency," Sangma admits.Turning BJP's own slogan around, Congress says it is aiming for a "BJP-mukt northeast". "We do not want the northeast to be heading for a situation like J &K after 2019 and that is why we will fight against BJP and ensure that people send them back...a BJP-mukt northeast to be most apt," Sangma said. "When you continue to impose on the people a point comes when the people get frustrated and they feel alienated," he added.

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