India's federally-governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set for a big win in the northeastern states on Thursday, as the vote counting in Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya has been underway since 8 a.m. (IST).
The results of the state polls, held in late February, are of major significance, especially for the BJP, which has already started preparing for the 2024 parliamentary polls.
As of Thursday afternoon, the BJP was emerging as the single largest party in Tripura, while in Nagaland, the party, along with its ally the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), seems to be heading to retain the power.
Earlier, exit polls predicted an easy victory for the BJP in Tripura and victory for the NDPP-BJP alliance in Nagaland.
Meanwhile, in Meghalaya, exit polls predicted that the National People’s Party (NPP) may emerge as the single largest party, while the BJP is expected to improve its performance compared to previous elections.
Tripura
According to an update as of 3 p.m. IST on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, the BJP had already won 18 seats, while it was leading in 15 more out of the total 60 assembly seats. Its ally the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) had won one seat.
The Communist Party of India (CPI), which has governed the state for 25 years, had won two seats and was leading in nine seats, whereas its ally Congress had won two seats and was leading in one more.
However, the former royal Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma-led Tipra Motha Party (TMP) appeared as the biggest gainer in the state polls, as it had already won eight seats and was leading in four.
This is the first time the TMP is contesting in the polls in Tripura.
Nagaland
The latest update showed the NDPP-BJP alliance moving towards a comfortable victory, as it had won 19 seats and was leading in 17 more out of the 60 assembly seats.
The BJP had won seven seats and was leading in five more, while the NDPP had won 12 seats and was leading in 12 more.
Apart from this, the rest of the political parties, including the Naga Peoples Front (NPF), National People’s Party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and others were leading in the remainder of the seats.
Meghalaya
None of the political parties in Meghalaya seemed to be touching the majority mark, as per the latest update on the ECI as of 3 p.m.
However, the NPP was emerging as the single largest party, as it had won six seats and was leading in 19 more out of the 59 assembly seats, while the United Democratic Party (UDP) was trailing behind it, with victory in five seats and leading in six more.
The BJP was leading in three seats in the state, whereas Congress had won four seats and was leading in one more. Trinamool Congress has won one seat and is leading on four seats.
Voting in These States
Voting for the state assembly elections in Tripura was held on February 16, while polling in Nagaland and Meghalaya was conducted on February 27.
In Tripura, the BJP is contesting 55 seats, while its ally IPFT fielded candidates for five seats. Meanwhile, the CPI and Congress fielded candidates for 47 and 13 seats respectively.
Congress and the CPI announced an alliance before the elections to take on the governing BJP-IPFT alliance. On the other hand, the newly formed TMP contested the elections for 42 seats.
In Nagaland, the BJP contested in 20 seats, while its ally the NDPP fought for 40, whereas Congress and the NPF did so in 23 and 22 seats respectively.
All the political parties in Meghalaya have contested the polls independently and there is likely to be a post-poll alliance to form a government.
Previous Assembly Polls in These States
The previous assembly polls in Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland were held in 2018. In Tripura, the BJP ended the 25-year-rule of the CPI and formed a government in alliance with the IPFT.
The BJP won 36 out of 60 seats, while the IPFT won eight seats. Meanwhile, the CPI managed to win only 16 seats and Congress didn’t win any.
The BJP and NDPP formed the government in Nagaland after the previous state assembly polls. The NDPP won 18 seats, while the BJP won 12, whereas the NPF emerged as the single largest party after winning 26 seats.
Congress didn’t win any seats in Nagaland either.
In 2018, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), comprised of NPP, United Democratic Party (UDP), People’s Democratic Front (PDF), Hill State People’s Democratic Front (HSPDF), and Independent, candidates formed the government.