Election results Live: Early trends indicate a close fight between the BJP and the CPI(M) in Left bastion Tripura. The Congress appears to have taken an upper hand in Meghalaya. Counting is on in Nagaland as well. Will the BJP gain ground in these three states? Verdict soon.
The counting of votes in assembly elections in three Northeast states – Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland – began at 8am on Friday. Two exit polls have predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party will dethrone the 25-year-old Left Front government in Tripura and consolidate its position in Meghalaya and Nagaland. The election results will be declared on the Election Commission of India’s website.
While the Congress has been ruling Meghalaya for 10 years, the Naga People’s Front has been in power in Nagaland since 2003, except for a three-month period of President’s rule in 2008. Tripura went to polls on February 18 and elections were held in Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27.
Here are live updates on the assembly election results:
9:30am: Party-wise vote share in Meghalaya, where the ruling Congress appears to have an edge as of now. Official trends now available for 14 seats in Meghalaya. The BJP is ahead in one, Congress in seven, NPP in two and others are leading in four seats.
9:25am: Meghalaya CM Mukul Sanga of the Congress now leading from both the seats--Ampati and Songsak--he is contesting.
9:18am: The ruling Naga People’s Front leading in two seats and BJP-NDPP alliance in one after the first round of counting in three seats in Nagaland.
9:10am: Latest trends show the Left is leading in 24 seats in Tripura, while the BJP is ahead in 26. In Meghalaya, the Congress and the NPP are leading in seven seats each, while the BJP has leads in three. In Nagaland, the NDPP-BJP alliance is now leading in nine seats.
Sudip Roy Burman, who won the Agartala seat in the last election on a Congress ticket, is leading from the same seat as a BJP candidate. Meghalaya’s chief minister and Congress leader Mukul Sangma is leading from his seat in Ampathi. Nagaland’s former chief minister and NDPP candidate Neiphiu Rio, who is contesting in an alliance with the BJP, is leading from the Northern Angami II seat.
9:04am: Tripura CM Manik Sarkar of the CPI(M) leading in Dhanpur seat. Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma of the Congress leading in Ampati. He is contesting from two seats --- Ampati and Songsak.
8:50am: Latest trends show the CPI(M) is ahead in Tripura. It is leading in 14 seats, as compared to the 10 where the BJP is ahead. In Meghalaya, the ruling Congress is leading in three seats, the BJP and the NPP in one each, and others are leading in four seats.
8:35am: The Left and the BJP were neck-and-neck in Tripura, with the CPI(M) leading in six seats and the BJP leading in five seats. Tripura CM Manik Sarkar is leading from his seat in Dhanpur, according to TV reports. In Nagaland, the NDPP-BJP alliance is leading in one seat. In Meghlaya, the ruling Congress is leading in one seat.
8:18am: Friend turned foes in Nagaland
Nagaland saw over 90% polling in 2013 but this time, however, the figure was nearly 10% less due to either voter apathy or poll-related violence which claimed one life and injured three.
The battle here is between the ruling Naga People’s Front and an alliance comprising newly-formed Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the BJP.
Earlier this month, the BJP severed its 15-year-old alliance with NPF and joined hands with NDPP. The saffron party contested from 20 seats and NDPP from the rest 40.
The BJP had fielded 11 candidates in 2013 but secured just one seat and 1.75% of the total votes in that election with eight candidates forfeiting their deposits.
The exit polls say the BJP-NDPP combine will form the next government, but if NPF does well and manages to cobble up an alliance with Congress, NPP and others—the story could be different.
The NPF, with 47% vote share and 38 seats, retained power easily in 2013. But having lost the BJP as an ally and many party leaders joining the NDPP—the battle won’t be an easy one this time.
8:13am:
8:09am: Three-cornered fight in Meghalaya
As per exit polls, the race is expected to be very close in Meghalaya—with National People’s Party (NPP) likely to emerge as the single largest party.
The regional party, which is an ally of the National Democratic Alliance or NDA at the Centre, contested the Meghalaya elections without any pre-poll tie-up with the BJP. It had won just two seats in 2013.
The BJP’s total vote share was just 1.27% five years ago and all its 13 candidates forfeited their deposits. This time, the saffron party has fielded 47 candidates and hopes to be part of the next government.
If no party wins a clear majority, the BJP and NPP could come together to form a government. There’s also a likelihood of Congress forging alliances with other regional parties and Independent candidates to stop the BJP and the NPP.
Congress is hoping the well-attended rallies and road shows of party president Rahul Gandhi would help it cross the tally of 29 it managed in 2013 polls.
The United Democratic Party (UDP), Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Garo National Council (GNC), which won 13 seats in 2013, and Independent candidates could prove to be decisive in government formation.
8:04am: Curfew imposed in Zunheboto and Wokha districts of Nagaland ahead of counting. One person was killed and three injured in a blast and clashes on the voting day in February 2.
8am: Counting of vote begins in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
7:55am: Red vs saffron in Tripura
Tripura, which went to polls on February 18, recorded over 91% polling. The figures for Meghalaya and Nagaland, where voting took place on February 27, was nearly 85% and 80% respectively.
Chief minister Manik Sarkar is attempting a fifth consecutive term in office. The CPI(M)-led Left Front is expecting Sarkar’s clean image and performance would help them cross the halfway mark and more.
Unlike previous elections when the contest was between the Left Front and Congress, this time it’s a straight fight between the Left Front and the BJP-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance.
7:44am: All the three states have 60-member assemblies but polling took place in only 59 — after the deaths of candidates in Meghalaya and Tripura and the unopposed election of former chief minister Neiphiu Rio of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party in Nagaland.
7:41am: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- a minor player till 2013 in these three states -- hopes to do exceedingly well and could even upset the entrenched players. Experts say anti-incumbency could be a major factor as the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front has been in power in Tripura since 1993, Congress has been ruling Meghalaya since 2008 and Naga People’s Front (NPF) in Nagaland since 2003.
7:37am: As Meghalaya wakes up to the result day, Shillong SP D Marak says there is adequate security at counting centres and police hope there will be no untoward incident, reports news agency ANI.
Exit poll predictions
*The CVoter exit poll, along with that of Axis MyIndia and News24, predicts a stupendous rise of the BJP in Tripura. The Axis MyIndia and News24’s tally for the BJP-led NDA is 45-50 seats and 9-10 for the CPI (M)-led Left Front. According to the CVoter exit poll, there might be a neck-and-neck fight between the BJP — which has an alliance with IPFT — and the Left in Tripura. The CPI(M) is predicted to get 26-34 seats and the BJP’s alliance will get 24 to 32 seats in the 60-member assembly.
*In Meghalaya, the CVoter exit poll gives the ruling Congress 13-19 seats, while according to the Axis MyIndia’s exit poll, the Congress will emerge as the single largest party with 20 votes. The local outfit NPP will get 14, while the BJP is tipped to get 5 seats. In CVoter’s estimate, the NPP will get 17-23 seats and the BJP 4-8 seats in Meghalaya. Political observers believe a good show by the NPP and the BJP will open the possibility of a post-poll alliance between these two parties.
*In Nagaland, the CVoter exit poll gave the BJP-led NDA 25-31 seats ahead of the NPF with 19-25 seats and the Congress with 0-4 seats. Axis MyIndia did not predict absolute numbers saying “Nagaland was a very difficult state to conduct exit poll survey.” But it said that NPF has an edge. Meghalaya and Nagaland also have 60 assembly seats.
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