BJP Set To Keep Nagaland, Tripura, C Sangma Short Of Majority In Meghalaya

The BJP and its ally IPFT  (Indigenous Progressive Front of Tripura) are leading on 34 of Tripura's 60 seats. But the score is down by 10 from 2018, when the BJP alone won 36 seats. The IPFT had won 8.

This time the BJP is leading on 28 seats, way below the "tsunami" Chief Minister Manik Saha had predicted. Asked about the matter, Mr Saha said the party will have to introspect" about why the results did not match expectations.

The Left, which ruled the state for 35 years, and its new ally Congress, are leading on 14 seats, down by two.

Erstwhile royal Pradyot Kishore Debbarma's Tipra Motha, which made its debut in this election, is leading on 12 seats.  The tribal-dominated party that is pushing for a Greater Tipraland, appears to have grabbed the IPFT's tribal support.

In Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma's National People's Party, which led the ruling alliance with the BJP, contested solo this time and is ahead on 26 of the state's 60 seats. It needs at least five more to reach the majority mark. The BJP is leading on five seats and may be the answer to NPP's numbers shortage.

Mr Sangma is apparently in talks for a post-poll alliance -- a meeting with the BJP's northeast pointsperson Himanta Biswa Sarma took place yesterday. The two leaders though, had played down the meet, saying it was a meeting between friends.

The two parties had fallen apart ahead of the election over corruption allegations against Mr Sangma's party.

"We will wait for the final results and then decide how to go forward, Mr Sangma told reporters.

In Meghalaya, new entrant Trinamool Congress is leading on five seats, and defying exit poll predictions, the Congress is leading on five seats.

In Nagaland, the BJP and its partner NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party) are leading on 38 seats -- eight more than the last time. The state also has got a woman MLA – a first since Independence.