BJP comes back in Nagaland, Tripura; reunites with NPP in Meghalaya
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 02 2023:
The BJP and its allies look set to score a perfect three in the latest round of elections in North Eastern States.
Victory seems close in Tripura and Nagaland.
It may also form Government in Meghalaya, renewing its alliance with Conrad Sangma.
Meghalaya was heading for a hung House when Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, whose National People's Party is leading the field, dialled the BJP's chief strategist Amit Shah to form the next Government in the hill State, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The BJP instantly agreed to support Mr Sangma.
The two parties had decided to go it alone for the election after a rift over corruption allegation against Mr Sangma's NPP.
Mr Sangma's party won 20 seats and was leading in six others, emerging as the single largest party.
The majority mark in Meghalaya, where the assembly has 60 seats, is 31.Voting on one of the seats was cancelled and will be held later.
The United Democratic Party (UDP) was in second place, winning 11 seats.
The Congress and the Trinamool Congress appeared set to win five seats each, and the BJP two.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP's main troubleshooter in the northeast, announced the party's decision to support Mr Sangma.
However, the alliance may still need to cobble together a few more seats to cross the magic number.
The United Democratic Party (UDP) with 11 seats is understood to have nodded to a tie with the NPP and the BJP in Government formation.
Conrad Sangma had already dropped a hint that his alliance with the BJP, called off ahead of the elections, may soon be back on.
"If we get a fraction of the mandate, then we have to talk to parties to form the Government...
If a party can give voice to the North East at the National level, we are working towards it," Mr Sangma had told NDTV on Monday after an aggregate of four exit polls indicated that NPP might win about 20 seats.
Tripura : The BJP-Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance won 31 seats in the 60-member Tripura Assembly, securing its return to power for the second time in a row.
According to the Election Commission website, the BJP bagged 30 seats while the IPFT got one.
The score is down by 11 from 2018, when the BJP alone won 36 seats.
The IPFT had won 8 .
In Tripura, the debutant Tipra Motha, led by the royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, made an impressive debut with leads in 12 seats, as per the available trends.
In Nagaland, the BJP has won 12 while major partner the NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party) got 37 seat.
Nagaland now has two women MLAs elected for the first time in its Assembly with Hekani Jakhalu and Salhoutuono Kruse, both from the NDPP.
Meghalaya>
National People's Party-26, United Democratic Party-11, INC-5, AITC-5, BJP - 2, Hill State People's Democratic Party-2, Independent-2, People's Democratic Front-2 and Voice of the People Part-4.Total - 59 .
Tripura>
BJP-32, CPI (Marxist)-11, Tipra Motha Party-13, Indian National Congress-3 and Indigenous People's Front of Tripura-1 .
Nagaland>
Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-25, BJP-12, NCP-7, National People's Party-5, Independent-4, Naga Peoples Front-2, Lok Janashakti Party (Ram Vilas)-2, RPI (Athawale)-2 and Janata Dal (United)-1 .
(with inputs from Agencies) .
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