Two exit polls on Tuesday predicted that the BJP will dethrone the Left Front from power in Tripura. According to the exit polls, the BJP will also consolidate its position in Meghalaya and Nagaland.
JanKiBaat-NewsX has predicted that the BJP-IPFT alliance in Tripura will win 35-45 seats, while the Left would secure 14-23 seats.
AxisMyIndia called 44-50 seats for the BJP in Tripura, while predicting the Left to win 9-15 seats.
The CVoter Exit Poll has predicted a close finish in Tripura, with the CPI(M) likely to get 26-34 seats with 44.3 per cent vote share, the BJP and its allies 24-32 seats with a vote share of 42.8 per cent, while the Congress may win only 0-2 seats with a vote share of 7.2 per cent.
In Meghalaya
The JanKiBaat-NewsX exit poll shows the National People’s Party (NPP) set to gain with 23-27 seats while its ally, the BJP, will get 8-12 seats. The ruling Congress is predicted to win 13-17 seats with a vote share of 21 per cent, and others are likely to get 2-6 seats.
CVoter exit poll predicts a close finish, with the Congress likely to get 13-19 seats and the NPP 17 to 23 seats, with vote shares of 36.5 and 29.4 per cent respectively.
In Nagaland
The BJP-NDPP alliance is likely to storm the ruling NPF’s bastion as it is predicted to win 27-32 seats with a vote share of 48 per cent, against NPF’s 20-25 seats and a vote share of 42 per cent, according to the JanKiBaat-NewsX exit poll.
CVoter claimed a victory for the NDPP-BJP which is likely to get 25-31 seats with 38.4 per cent vote share and the NPF likely to bag 19-25 seats with a vote share of 27.1 per cent.
The Congress is set to lose a lot with the poll predicting 0-4 seats with a vote share of 19.7 per cent, while others may get 6-10 seats with a vote share of 14.8 per cent, according to CVoter.
Each of the three States has a 60-member Assembly and a party would need 31 seats to get a clear majority.
Turnout falls
Meanwhile, Meghalaya and Nagaland, which went to the polls on Thursday, reported a lower turnout when compared to the 2013 elections. In Meghalaya, polling percentage stood at 67 per cent, a 22 percentage-point fall from 2013, while in Nagaland the voter turnout of 75 per cent was a decrease of 15 points from the previous elections.
“The figure is likely to go up in Meghalaya as people were still waiting in line to cast their vote. Besides, Meghalaya is a hilly State and communication is difficult. It will take some time before the polling parties return and we get an exact count on the percentage of votes polled,” Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner, told a news conference here.
The final voter turnout in Nagaland is also expected to rise from 75 per cent as voting was on in at least 500 polling stations, Sudeep Jain, Deputy Election Commissioner, added.
Elections took place on Tuesday in 59 of the 60 Assembly seats in each of the two States. In Nagaland, former chief minister Neiphiu Rio has already been elected unopposed while in Meghalaya the killing of Jonathone N Sangma in East Garo Hills after an IED blast led to polls there being cancelled.
The EC officials declined to say what the final poll percentage could be, only remarking that a better idea would emerge by Wednesday afternoon. EC officials pointed to the fact that the final figure in Tripura was reported at 92 per cent, as compared to 89.8 per cent reported earlier when polling ended in the state on February 19 this year.
Asked why the voter turnout was lower this time, a senior EC official said: “The display of forces was large so only genuine voters could vote, besides there was also web casting. Whether any of the various steps that the EC initiated is responsible will have to be looked into.”
One killed in Nagaland
While polling passed off peacefully in Meghalaya, there were reports of “sporadic incidents” in four constituencies in Nagaland, with one person succumbing to his injuries received when a bomb exploded near a polling station. In at least two places, there were reports of EVM malfunctioning.