Assembly Polls 2023: Where Parties In Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland Stand Now

Tripura will vote on February 16, while Meghalaya and Nagaland will vote on February 27. The election results of all the three states will be declared on March 2.

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (EC) announced the schedule of the assembly election in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said Tripura will vote on February 16, while Meghalaya and Nagaland will vote on February 27. The election results of all the three states will be declared on March 2.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has its government in Tripura, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party is in power in Nagaland, and National People's Party (NPP), the only party from the northeast to have national party recognition, has the government in Meghalaya.  

Although it is true that the representation of these states is hardly noticeable in the lower house, the assembly elections are crucial for the leadership of the BJP, that has formed a government in Tripura on its own strength.

Tripura

In Tripura, the saffron party defeated its arch-rival Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the 2018 assembly polls. The Congress, which used to be the main opposition party of the Left in the state, was decimated. It went from a 37 per cent vote share in 2013 to less than two per cent votes in 2018. 

In 2018, out of 60 seats, the BJP got 36 seats, CPM got 16 and Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) bagged 8 seats. Although BJP formed the government in this state, it vote share was ahead of the Left only by a slight margin.

Meghalaya

In this northeast state, where BJP got a vote share of 9.6 per cent and 2 seats in the 2018 polls, the saffron party has nothing to lose, being a part of ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance comprising five parties.

However, in 2023 elections, BJP will be fighting alone and has stepped up its attack on the ruling Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP).

In the last polls, BJP got 2 seats, NPP 19, Congress 21 and others bagged 18 seats. In Meghalaya, the Congress got 29 per cent votes, while NPP secured 21 per cent.

Nagaland

In this state, the BJP-NDPP (National Democratic Progressive Party) alliance formed the government by winning a total of 30 seats. The saffron party had won 12 seats with a vote share of 15 per cent, despite the Nagaland Baptist Churches Council — the state’s biggest church council — appealing to the voters not to vote for the BJP ahead of the polls.

In 2018, Naga People’s Front (NPF) got maximum 26 seats, NDPP bagged 18 seats, while others got four seats.