BJP’s 3/3: Keeps Nagaland, Tripura, Reunites With Meghalaya Ally

New Delhi: The BJP and its allies look set to score a perfect three in the latest round of elections in northeastern states. It has won Tripura and is close to victory in Nagaland. It may also form government in Meghalaya, renewing its alliance with Conrad Sang

Here’s your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story

1. The BJP-IPFT (Indigenous Progressive Front of Tripura) alliance returned to power in Tripura winning 33 of the state’s 60 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “The double engine government will keep working for the state’s progress. I laud our party workers for their hardwork which ensured this result”.
2. The score of the alliance, however, is down by 11 from 2018, when the BJP alone won 36 seats and the IPFT, eight.
3. Erstwhile royal Pradyot Kishore Debbarma’s Tipra Motha, which made its debut in this election, won 13 seats.  The party, which is pushing for a Greater Tipraland, appears to have grabbed the IPFT’s tribal support.
4. 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. The two parties had decided to go it alone in the election after a rift over corruption allegation against Mr Sangma’s NPP.
5. “Sri @SangmaConrad, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, called @AmitShah ji, Hon’ble Home Minister, and sought his support and blessings in forming the new Government,” tweeted Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Chief Minister and the BJP’s pointsperson in the northeast.
6. Mr Sangma and Mr Sarma had a meeting yesterday in Guwahati where, sources said, the alliance was discussed. The two parties, together, are leading in 28 seats — some way below the halfway mark of 31 in the 60-member house.
7. “We will wait for the final results and then decide how to go forward, Mr Sangma had told reporters.
8. The Left, which ruled the state for 35 years, and its new ally Congress, are leading on 14 seats, down by two.
9. Meghalaya’s new entrant Trinamool Congress is leading on five seats, and defying exit poll predictions, the Congress is leading on five seats.
10. In Nagaland, the BJP and its partner NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party) are leading on 37 seats – seven more than the last time. The state also has got a woman MLA – a first since Independence.