“When the Prime Minister, Interior Minister Amit Shah, and BJP president JP Nadda visited Meghalaya, they all accused and insulted the NPP.” The following day, however, they united after the BJP received only two of the sixty seats available. This is how the BJP deceives the people of India and Meghalaya, Meghalaya Congress chief Vincent H. Pala said on Monday at a news conference in New Delhi.

The Congress also released a number of videos of speeches given by prominent BJP leaders during the election campaign in Meghalaya, in which they accuse the Sangma-led government of corruption and nepotism.

“According to the PM and HM, Conrad Sangma’s government in Meghalaya was the MOST corrupt in the country a few days ago. Now, presumably due to amnesia, the BJP has joined forces with him. Meghalaya deserves better,” tweeted Jairam Ramesh, general secretary of the Congress. “I should have added that the BJP Washing Machine is currently operating at full capacity,” Ramesh said.

Supriya Shrinate, a spokesperson for the Congress, recalled at a press conference in Delhi that the BJP leadership demanded an investigation into corruption allegations against the NPP government prior to the election, but has no reservations about partnering with the same party now. “This type of corruption-related drama has also occurred in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, and Uttar Pradesh,” she said.

The National People’s Party (NPP), which won 26 seats in the 60-member assembly, had the support of two BJP legislators, two MLAs from the Hill State Peoples Democratic Party (HSPDP), and two Independent MLAs, bringing their total to 32 and one more than the required 31 for a majority.

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The United Democratic Party (UDP), the second-largest party with 11 seats, and the Peoples’ Democratic Front (PDF), which has two MLAs, extended their support for Conrad on Sunday evening, bringing the coalition’s total to 45 lawmakers.

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Traditional rivals Congress and the Left have joined forces for the first time to challenge the BJP in the election for the state’s 60-member assembly in Tripura, which promises to have greater national resonance than the other two states.

At 8am, the counting of ballots in Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland will commence. “Result trends will begin at 8:00 am on the 2nd of March,” reads a message on the website of the Election Commission of India. Postal ballots will be counted first, followed by electronic voting machines. The results will be updated on the election commission’s official website.

Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland election results 2023: 10 Points cheatsheet

1. Tripura had voted on February 16. In this battle among the national parties, it is the Pradyot Debbarma-led TIPRA Motha that has emerged as an X-factor as the sway of its founder, scion of erstwhile royalty, among a big section of the tribal population has disturbed conventional calculations, more so as the BJP and its ally Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) had done well in the tribal region in 2018.

2. In the 2018 assembly election, the BJP had won 36 seats and the IPFT eight. With the IPFT in decline following the death of its founder NC Debbarma, the burden of delivering a majority rests largely on the shoulders of the BJP while its two main rivals have united.

3. Meghalaya and Nagaland went to the assembly polls on February 27. While regional parties remain bigger players in both Meghalaya and Nagaland, the BJP ran a determined campaign with its bigwigs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, in the states to expand its footprints.

4. For the first time, the BJP has fought on all 60 seats in Meghalaya and constantly targeted National People’s Party (NPP) leader and chief minister Conrad Sangma for running the “most corrupt” state government in the country. Interestingly, the BJP was a partner in the state government but broke ties ahead of the poll.

Also Read |  Stage Set For Counting In Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland

5. But despite slugfest, Sangma met Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday night.

6. Of the three northeastern states, the most closely contested battle, as per the exit polls, has been in Meghalaya that have predicated a hung assembly, with the ruling NPP could end up with 20 seats. The BJP may increase its number of seats from 2 to 6 this time. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress could securing up to 11 seats.

7. In Nagaland, which had the unique feature of having no opposition as all parties with a presence in the 60-member assembly backed the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-led government, the BJP is again fighting the polls in alliance with the NDPP.

8. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed that there will be no hung assembly in Tripura, Nagaland or Meghalaya, as predicted in some exit polls, and the BJP-led NDA will form governments with an absolute majority in all these states.

9. While Tripura recorded 87.76 per cent polling, Nagaland saw 85.90 per cent and Meghalaya registered 85.27 per cent voter turnout, respectively.

10. The results of the polls in three northeastern states may have a bearing on the prospects of national parties in state polls later this year.

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Under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, the ruling party in West Bengal has won three straight assembly elections in its home state. However, the party’s plans to expand outside of Bengal to solidify its position as a key political group have run into problems. The TMC, which is a national party, is looking for ways to join the government or fight against it in more states.

Last year, it ran for the Goa assembly but didn’t win any seats. In the past, the party ran for a few seats in the northeast and some of West Bengal’s neighbouring states. Even though some of its candidates won, the TMC wasn’t able to make the difference it wanted.

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The Meghalaya elections are the best chance the TMC has had so far. In a political coup on November 25, 2021, 12 of Meghalaya’s 17 Congress MLAs, including former chief minister Mukul Sangma, switched to the TMC. This gave the party the ready-made position of main opposition in the assembly. Banerjee’s party has never been able to sit in any assembly outside of West Bengal as the main opposition party.

The chances of the TMC in the state got better when Sangma joined the party. A TMC leader who asked not to be named said, “We hope to do well in the Garo and Khasi hills.” About seven seats are in the Jaintia hills, but experts say it might be hard for the TMC to win votes there.

In Goa, where the election was only five months away, the TMC only started campaigning a few weeks before the election. In Meghalaya, however, they have been there for more than a year. Derek O’Brien, the leader of the TMC in the Rajya Sabha, said, “We have given the people of the state a document with our time-bound goals.”

“After our historic three-peat in West Bengal, we opened offices in Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, and Goa. TMC doesn’t act cocky before election results. We’ve lived in Meghalaya for more than a year. We ran a campaign with a lot of heart. O’Brien said, “Let’s wait until March 2.” On March 2, the results of the polls will be made public.

The TMC has a unique chance if it becomes the main opposition party, but two party leaders have said that if Meghalaya also rejects the TMC, the party will have to start over.

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