Ashish Ranjan
Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland election results 2023: After months of high-octane campaigns, the results of the assembly elections in Tripura and two other northeastern states – Meghalaya and Nagaland – will be announced on Thursday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party seeking to deepen its roots in Tripura, a Left stronghold the party captured in 2018.
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.
