North east election: The BJP is set to form government in Tripura with IPFT's support
Biplab Deb, 48, will take oath at 5 on Thursday evening as the next Chief Minister of
Tripura, sources said today. An official announcement is expected tomorrow after a meeting of the BJP's newly elected legislators, which union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Jual Oram will oversee as central observer. The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) has said it will support the BJP from outside if its legislators did not get "respectable representation" in the new Tripura government.
In Meghalaya, despite the Congress emerging as the single largest party with 21 seats, the BJP that won only two seats supported the formation of a non-Congress government with an alliance of regional parties. National People's Party (NPP) leader Conrad Sangma then met with Governor Ganga Prasad to stake claim to form government. Congress leader and Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has resigned.
In Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and other candidates who joined the BJP-NDPP alliance met with Governor PB Acharya to stake claim to form government. Both sides were given 48 hours to prove they have the numbers to form the new government. The term of the current Nagaland assembly ends on March 13.
Here are the highlights of government formation in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya:
The massive victory threw the spotlight on Biplab Deb, who took over two years ago as the BJP's Tripura chief, its youngest in any state. "Legislature members will decide who should be made the Chief Minister in a democratic way as BJP believes in democracy. BJP President Amit Shah and PM Modi know how to give right direction to public's suggestion," Mr Deb today said.
Biplab Deb, 48, will take oath at 5 on Thursday evening as the next Chief Minister of Tripura, sources said today. An official announcement is expected tomorrow after a meeting of the BJP's newly elected legislators, which union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Jual Oram will oversee as central observer.
National People's Party (NPP) president Conrad Sangma today said he has been invited by Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad to form government in the state. He said the swearing-in of the new ministers would take place tomorrow. "The governor has invited me to form the government since I have the numbers," Mr Sangma said.
The newly elected MLAs of Meghalaya will take oath during a special one-day assembly session on Wednesday, assembly commissioner and secretary Andrew Simons said in Shillong today. "A one-day special session of the Meghalaya legislative assembly will be held on March 7 at 10 am, where the newly elected MLAs will take oath before protem Speaker at the assembly chamber," Mr Simons said in a statement.
In Dimapur, BJP's north east strategist Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP general secretary and north east in-charge Ajay Jamwal and Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party's (NDPP) Neiphiu Rio discuss government formation in Nagaland.
"Election is a separate issue. Our demand has been there for years to create separate state for tribal people of Tripura. We're hopeful the central government will form a high-level monitoring committee to look into our demand."
NC Debbarma, president, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT)
Mounting pressure on its electoral ally BJP, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) today said that it would support the new government from outside if it was not given "respectable" positions in the ministry. Clarifying the meaning of "respectable" positions, IPFT president NC Debbarma said it meant proportionate representation of IPFT MLAs in the cabinet and allocation of major departments to them.