Assembly Elections 2023: BJP Expands Footprint in Northeast

The recent assembly election results in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya make it clear that the BJP has retained its position in states like Assam and Tripura and entered into alliances with regional parties in Nagaland.

The saffron party has retained Tripura. It won 32 out of 60 seats in the state, losing some seats compared to the last time because of the rise of Tipra Motha, a tribal party set up by former Congress leader Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, which won 13 seats.

In Nagaland, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) won a clear victory in alliance with the BJP. In the 60-member assembly, the NDPP won 25 seats and the BJP won 12.

In Meghalaya,  National People’s Party headed by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma won 26 seats. The BJP, which won two seats, has already pledged support to the NPP after Conrad Sangma spoke to Amit Shah. Sangma still requires two more MLAs to form a government in the 60-member assembly where there were elections only for 59 seats because of the death of a candidate. 

Seen from a national perspective – even if the region that is crucial from the national security standpoint does not send a significant number of MPs to the Lok Sabha – the BJP has now acquired a clear and sustainable foothold in the  north-eastern region. It has twice won Assam and Tripura on its own, and sharing power with  NDPP in Nagaland. Last year, the BJP secured a majority in the Manipur assembly elections, winning 32 out of the 60 assembly seats and restricting the Congress to just five seats. 

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