BJP, allies win northeast state polls
Modi: Party’s good performance in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya shows people’s trust
Agartala: The BJP on Thursday won state polls in Tripura, combined with allies to win Nagaland, and extended support to the largest party in Meghalaya, stamping its presence in the northeastern states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the party’s headquarters that the BJP’s good performance in assembly elections in three northeastern states showed the people’s solid trust in democracy and the democratic process.
Modi credited the hard work by BJP workers for the good results in the polls.
In Tripura, the BJP retained its grip for the second straight term by winning 32 seats, one more than the magic figure of 31 in the 60-member state assembly, for which elections were held on February 16.
According to the results declared by the Election Commission on Thursday, the tribal-based Tipra Motha Party (TMP), which for the first time contested 42 seats on its own, emerged as the second largest party securing 13 seats. The CPI-M won 11 seats while the Congress bagged three.
The CPI-M led Left Front, which contested the elections in a seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress, had fielded 47 candidates while 13 seats were allotted to the Congress.
BJP ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) won the Jolaibari seat in southern Tripura.
In the 2018 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 36 seats, its ally IPTF bagged eight seats while the CPI-M had secured 16 seats.
However, the Trinamool Congress, which carried out a high-voltage campaign in Tripura in the run-up to the elections, failed to open its account in the state.
Most of the top BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Manik Saha, his cabinet colleague Ratan Lal Nath and Union minister Pratima Bhowmik, were re-elected from Town Bordowali, Mohanpur and Dhanpur, respectively.
In Nagaland, the BJP secured 12 seats, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) won 25 seats and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) bagged seven seats. National People’s Party (NPP) won five seats. Naga Peoples Front, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Republican Party of India (Athawale) won two seats each. Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) got one seat.
The majority mark in the 60-seat Nagaland Assembly is 31.
In Meghalaya, where the BJP contested on its own this time, the party extended support to Conrad Samgma’s National People’s Party (NPP) in forming the government in the state.
The National People’s Party (NPP) won 26 seats, United Democratic Party (UDP) bagged 11 seats and Trinamool Congress got five seats. BJP, People’s Democratic Front and Hill State People’s Democratic Party bagged two seats each. Congress managed to get five seats while the Voice of the People Party got four seats. Two seats were won by independent candidates.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sarma said that his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma called Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking support to form a government in the state.
“Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma called Amit Shah, Hon’ble Home Minister and sought his support and blessings in forming the new Government,” tweeted CM Sarma.
Sarma further said that BJP national president JP Nadda has advised the state unit of the party to support the National People’s Party in forming the next government in Meghalaya.