MLAs as Businessmen-Politicians in Northeast India: Profile, Practices and Implications

Abstract

In Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura, regional legislators (Members of the Legislative Assembly) are increasingly wealthy and coming from business backgrounds. Based on an analysis of MLAs’ affidavits, qualitative interviews and observations conducted between 2021 and 2024, this presentation aims to explain the rise of “businessmen-politicians” in these states, to analyze their profiles, specific practices and their implications.

Sharing socio-economic dispositions and professional backgrounds, businessmen enter politics primarily to safeguard and expand their economic interests. Political parties often grant them tickets due to their ability to fund their own campaign and for their “winnability”. Once elected, their resources enable them to provide numerous goods and services to constituents, claiming to improve welfare through individual-level assistance. To negotiate funds and projects, they often bypass formal bureaucratic and legislative processes, instead leveraging partisan and personal connections with ministers and bureaucrats, while at times, engaging in corrupt practices (distributing a percentage of project budgets to decision-makers). Their conception of development prioritizes large-scale infrastructures (e.g., roads, hospitals, colleges), which boost development indicators while generating financial and electoral gains through the allocation of contracts and positions to their supporters.

Shedding light on the nexus between business and politics in Northeast India, this presentation will further detail their practices to understand their implications for electoral campaigns (spectacularization and personalization of campaigns, rising costs, codependency between business and politics), as well as for service delivery, development and corruption.