Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 2: The BJP may be in the government in all the three states for which the results of the Assembly elections were announced on Thursday with the party with its allies retaining Tripura, though with a slender majority, and rushed through in Nagaland while it received a call from the single largest party in Meghalaya for support to form a government.
The BJP with its ally -IPFT (Indigenous Progressive Front of Tripura) managed to walk past the majority mark of 31 in the 60-member Tripura Assembly with 33 seats, though down from 44 the alliance had won in the outgoing Assembly, while in Nagaland, the NDPP+BJP raced into the lead right from the word go and maintained the pole position throughout finally winning 37 seats in the 60-member Assembly.
In Meghalaya, the Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) ended up with 26 seats, five short of majority mark also in the 60-member House while the BJP could get only two seats. However, as the state was heading for a hung house, the chief minister Sangma dialled its former ally, the BJP which had severed its relations with the NPP just before the elections levelling corruption charges against the ruling party.
Sangma called up the union home minister Amit Shah for support and the party decided to bury its differences with the NPP and be on board to explore all possibilities to form a government. The two parties had decided to go it alone in the election after a rift over corruption allegation against Mr Sangma’s NPP. “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.
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 – still way below the halfway mark of 31 in the 60-member house.
The BJP is, however, upbeat as the party is hoping to be forming a government or be part of a government in all the three states. A “proud” prime minister Narendra Modi congratulated the party workers in all three states and also thanked the people for the good showing by the BJP in the three north-eastern states, the precursor to the 2024 Parliamentary elections.
In Tripura, where the BJP+ went only slightly above the majority mark of 31, the Left+ Congress was down to half the BJP+ number, with the Tipra Motha bagging 13 seats and just missed to be the kingmaker. The BJP local leadership still reached out to the TIPRA Motha, saying it is open to all their demands except the one for ‘Greater Tipraland.’
Soon after 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.” This time the BJP won 32 seats of the 46 it contested and the IPFT could secure only one seat of the 14 it contested. In the outgoing House, the BJP alone had won 36 seats and the IPFT eight.
Meghalaya’s new entrant Trinamool Congress won five seats while the Congress also won in five seats, down from 17 in the outgoing House, but better than the exit poll predictions which had forecast white wash for the party.
In Nagaland, the BJP and its partner Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) won 37 seats, seven more than the last time. The state also has got a woman MLA – a first since Independence. As the BJP and its alliance partner crossed the majority mark by winning 37 seats in Nagaland, Modi thanked the people of the state stating that the double-engine government would keep working for the state’s progress.
While the three north-eastern states failed to bring any cheer for the Congress, the Grand Old Party may found some solace from the outcome of some by-elections held along with the polling in the three states.
Left Front supported Congress candidate Bayron Biswas sprang a surprise by defeating Trinamool Congress nominee Debasish Banerjee in the by-election for Sagardighi Assembly constituency in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district by a margin of 22,986 votes. The bypoll results are significant not only because the Congress party will have a representative in the State Assembly but also because Trinamool Congress lost in a constituency where it had registered three consecutive victories since 2011.
Stating that people had recognised Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s government as he had fulfilled 80% of the DMK’s poll promises, Congress candidate E.V.K.S. Elangovan credited Mr. Stalin for his victory in the Erode (East) Assembly by-election. At the end of the sixth round of counting as of 3 p.m., Mr. Elangovan secured 46,072 votes, K. S. Thennarasu of the AIADMK 16,906 and Menaka Navaneethan of Naam Tamilar Katchi, 4,062. Polling for the constituency was held on February 27.
In a major upset for the ruling BJP, the Congress’ Ravindra Dhangekar — the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the Kasba Peth Assembly segment — registered a thumping victory over the BJP’s Hemant Rasane. Mr. Dhangekar, a former five-time corporator, pulled off a thumping win in the BJP’s citadel defeating Mr. Rasane by over 11,000 votes. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar said Mr. Dhangekar’s victory sent out a message “if the three parties fight together and the seat sharing is done properly, then nothing can stop the MVA from gaining success in future elections in Maharashtra.”
The BJP-backed AJSU candidate Sunita Choudhary, however, defeated Congress candidate Bajrang Mahto in the Ramgarh seat bypoll in Jharkhand. The bypoll was necessitated after the disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case. On the day of the bypoll, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had said the people of Ramgarh were participating in the polls to strengthen democracy and defeat money power in the elections. AJSU Party Chief Sudesh Mahto had urged electors to cast their votes in the interest of the State.