East turns Right? 10 takeaways of Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland poll results

BJP ends 25 years of Left rule in Tripura, looks for coalition governments in Nagaland and Meghalaya

In a saffron surge in the northeast, the BJP put up a spectacular show in Tripura on Saturday, ending 25 years of the Left rule, and was looking to the formation of coalition governments in Nagaland and Meghalaya in the face of hung verdicts.

BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav and Tripura BJP chief Biplab Kumar Deb display victory sign as they celebrate with supporters after party's victory in Tripura Assembly elections results in Agartala | Photo: PTI

Here are the key takeaways:

• The BJP and its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), a tribal-dominated party, were together leading in 39 out of 59 constituencies for which trends of results were available. The BJP on its own was ahead in 33 seats, two more than the half-way mark, while its ally was leading in seven. The IPFT has already bagged one seat.

• In Tripura, the BJP which had no MLAs in the outgoing assembly and had polled just 1.5 per cent votes in the 2013 elections, losing deposits in 49 of the 50 constituencies it contested, recorded a scintillating performance securing over 42 per cent of votes in the February 18 elections.

• The Left Front, which had 50 seats in the last elections, was ahead in just 18 seats. The CPI-M-CPI alliance has polled over 44 per cent of votes, about six per cent less than the last elections. The CPI-M alone has polled 43.3 per cent, one per cent higher than the winning BJP.

BJP party workers celebrate outside party headquarters after Assembly election results, in New Delhi | PTI Photo

• The BJP's leading candidates included state party President Biplab Kumar Deb (Banamalipur), who could be the next Chief Minister of the state. The other winners are Sudip Roy Barman (Agartala), Ratanlal Nath (Mohanpur), A. Rampada Jamatia (Bagma), Dilip Kumar Das (Barjala), Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl (Karamchara), Ashish Kumar Saha (Bordowali), Ratan Chakraborty (Khayerpur), Atul Debbarma (Krishnapur) and Sushanta Chowdhury (Majlishpur).

• The Congress, which had 10 members in the outgoing assembly, failed to even open its account this time. Many of its candidates may even lose their deposits.

• Among the notable Left candidates trailing were sitting Tribal Welfare Minister Aghore Debbarma (Asharambari), Forest and Rural Development Minister Narensh Chandra Jamatia (Bagma), Deputy Speaker Pabitra Kar (Khayerpur), Bijay Laxmi Sinha (Kamalpur), Samiran Malakar (Pabiachara), Manoranjan Debbarma (Mandai Bazar), Ratan Das (Ramnagar), Manindra Chandra Das (Kalyanpur-Promodnagar) and Chief Whip Basudeb Majumder (Belonia).

• Among the Left Front's leading candidates were Health and PWD Minister Badal Choudhury (Hrishamukh), Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty (Chandipur), Information, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bhanulal Saha (Bishalgarh), Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sahid Chowdhury, Assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debbarma and Jail Minister Manindra Reang.

• In Nagaland, the ruling Naga Peoples Front (NPF) was leading in 20 and has already won four seats in the 60-member assembly. Interestingly, the BJP, leading in seven seats, has two ministers in the NPF government but had stitched a pre-poll alliance with the National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) that was leading in 14 seats.

• Meghalaya, once a Congress bastion, appeared headed for a government of non-Congress forces. The ruling Congress has won 11 seats and was leading in nine more. In the last elections, it had won 29 seats in the 60-member assembly.

• With power at the Centre, the BJP can look to cobble a post-poll coalition to form a government roping in smaller parties with the NPP at the head. The smaller winning parties include PDF, ahead in four constituencies, UDP, which has won two and was ahead in four seats.