Left rule in Agartala ends after 25 years but strong showing by independent regional parties creates obstacles for BJP and partners in Dimapur, Shillong.
People voting in Tripura. Credit: PTI
New Delhi: On Saturday morning, counting of votes began in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. Tripura went to the polls on February 18, and Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27.
In each of the three states, a party will need 31 seats to get a majority and form the government.
Nagaland
In Nagaland, the contest is tight. The ruling Naga People’s Front and allies are leading in 29 seats. The Nagaland Democratic Progressive Party-BJP alliance is leading in 24 seats, Congress in zero and others in one.
Of the 60 assembly seats in Nagaland, elections are taking place in 59 – Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party candidate Neiphu Rio was declared elected unopposed from the Northern Angami seat.
The BJP’s best performance thus far in Nagaland was in 2008, when it won seven seats.
The Wire‘s coverage from Nagaland:
- As Nagaland votes, a conclusive Naga Agreement is the collective demand
- Nagaland: With ally NPF set to snap ties, BJP moves to forge a new alliance with NDPP
Meghalaya
No party has got a majority in Meghalaya.
Congress leaders Ahmad Patel and Kamal Nath have left Delhi for Shillong.
Of the 60 assembly seats in Meghalaya, polls took place for 59. Elections to the Williamnagar seat were cancelled due to the murder of NCP candidate, Jonathone N. Sangma.
The Congress had it’s best ever performance in 2013. BJP’s best show was in 1998 when it won three seats – also the first time it ever won an assembly seat in the state.
Read The Wire‘s coverage from Meghalaya:
- Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma faces stiff competition in his stronghold, Ampatigiri
- In ‘Christian’ Meghalaya, the BJP finds its Hindutva baggage weighing it down
- If NPP wins Meghalaya, development will reach every constituency: Conrad Sangma
Tripura
While initial trends in Tripura indicated a tight contest between the BJP and the ruling Left Front, the BJP appears to be surging ahead. The Left is currently leading in 17 seats, the BJP and its allies in 42.
Of the 60 assembly seats in Tripura, elections are taking place in 59. Voting in the Charilam constituency has been postponed to March 12 due to the CPI(M) candidate’s death.
CPI(M)’s Manik Sarkar has been in power in the state since 1998. Before him, Nripen Chakraborty from the CPI(M) was in power for five years. The party has now been ruling in Tripura for 25 years.
In the 2013 elections, the BJP contested in 50 seats and lost its deposit in 49 of those. In 2008, it had contested 49 seats and lost its deposit in all 49.
On Saturday afternoon, the polit bureau of the CPI(M) issued a statement on the party’s defeat in Tripura:
The verdict of the people of Tripura will lead to the formation of a BJP-IPFT alliance government in the state. After 25 years in government, the Left Front has been voted out of office.
The BJP has, apart from other factors, utilised massive deployment of money and other resources to influence the elections. The BJP was able to consolidate all the anti-Left votes virtually appropriating the erstwhile main opposition party, the Congress.
The Polit Bureau thanks the 45 per cent of the voters who extended support to the CPI(M) and the Left Front. The Party will carefully examine the reasons for this electoral setback and take necessary remedial measures.
The CPI(M) assures the people of Tripura that it will continue to champion the cause of all sections of the working people and uphold tribal-non tribal unity.
Read The Wire‘s coverage from Tripura:
- Will the 2018 Tripura elections be 2008 all over again?
- Why BJP is capturing the imagination of Tripura’s young voters
- BJP’s campaign in Tripura Is bringing back memories of more violent times
- Meet Sunil Deodhar, the man who changed the BJP’s fate in Tripura
- Interview: Tripura CM Manik Sarkar on how the Left plans to fight BJP
- On March 3, the real loser in Tripura will not be Left or BJP, but Congress