The BJP has retained power in Tripura and Nagaland, while Meghalaya is inching towards a hung assembly with the National People’s Party (NPP), leading in 25 seats, short of majority mark in the 59-member Assembly. While the BJP got merely two seats, it is eyeing a tie-up with NPP chief Conrad Sangma, who had met Assam Chief Minister and the BJP’s NorthEast-incharge, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Wednesday.
The BJP’s move to change its Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb with Manik Shaha ahead of polls appears to have paid off, with the ruling party getting a clear majority, winning 32 of the total 60 seats, according to results announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Its ally, Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, won one constituency.
The tally
Tipra Motha Party, founded by royal family head Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma, surprised poll pundits to emerge second in the tally with 13 seats, while the CPI(M) squared 11 and Congress three seats.
In Nagaland, the BJP, which is a junior partner to the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), is set to form the government, given that the ruling alliance has managed to win a total of 37 constituencies, well past the half-way-mark for 60-member Assembly.
By-polls
Meanwhile, in by-elections at six constituencies spread over five States, the BJP was leading on one seat and lost the other to Congress in Maharashtra. It won the lone seat in Arunachal Pradesh, while the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) bagged one in Jharkhand. Congress won one in West Bengal and was leading in Tamil Nadu.