NEW DELHI: As the northeast prepares for assembly elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland in February-March, the polls are seen in the Capital as an extension of the tussle between the two big national parties.The BJP is on an aggressive expansionist mission, while the Congress is trying to cling on to the little it has left in the northeast, which was considered its extended electoral backyard in its heyday.Conventional wisdom holds that the ‘political grip’ on New Delhi’s Raisina Hill and the ‘resources’ that come with it, to a great extent, determine the outcome of power games of the northeast. That, among other things, explains why the Congress is experiencing the BJP’s most aggressive “Congress-mukt” push in the volatile and slippery political landscape of the northeast.The RSS’ traditional “ideological and strategic interests” in the region only add to the determination to tighten the saffron grip on the region. The fact that the northeast counts for 25 Lok Sabha seats and 14 Rajya Sabha seats also becomes part of the calculation.Since the Modi government assumed power in 2014, the Congress has lost three NE states – Assam Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur – to the BJP. With Meghalaya now facing polls, the Grand Old Party is left with only Mizoram – due for elections later this year – under its rule among the eight NE states.“The BJP central leadership knows their party’s ideology is in direct conflict with the political and cultural moorings of the people of the northeastern states. So, the BJP is seeking a backdoor electoral entry by leveraging the power in Delhi for creating politically opportunistic and ideologically incompatible adjustments and alliances, besides engineering defections,” CP Joshi, AICC general secretary in charge of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, told ET.However, history shows that economic development of the NE states and peace in the region are linked only to the “administrative vision” of the Congress, he said.