Whose head will be crowned?

New Delhi. A lot is at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the three electoral states of the Northeast (Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland). The election results of these states will be out on Thursday which will give an indication of whether the BJP has strengthened its foothold in Tripura since wresting its bastion from the Left in 2018. It will also be clear from the election results whether the BJP, which is in power in most of the North-Eastern states, has been able to strengthen its presence in Meghalaya and Nagaland or whether the opposition has been able to make a dent in its influence.

Among the three states, Tripura is such a state on which everyone’s eyes are on at the national level because ideologically it is considered very important for the BJP to win here. It is also significant because the traditional rivals Congress and the Left have joined hands for the first time to challenge the BJP in the elections to the state’s 60-member assembly. In the last Tripura assembly elections, BJP won 36 seats and IPFT won eight seats.

1. Voting was held on February 16 for 60 assembly seats in Tripura Assembly. During this, out of total 23.13 lakh voters, 89.90 percent people exercised their franchise. About 25,000 security personnel have been deployed in Tripura. In this election, 259 candidates of different parties are in the fray.
2. Under Section 144, prohibitory orders have been imposed in entire Tripura from 6 pm on March 1 to March 3, so that no untoward incident takes place during this period. However, essential services and examinees have been kept away from the purview of this restriction.
3. There is a possibility of a triangular contest in Tripura this time. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and IPFT (Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura) alliance is trying to retain power. At the same time, the Left-Congress alliance has also tried hard to snatch power. The regional organization Tipra Motha Autonomous Council has entered the assembly elections for the first time after its spectacular performance in the elections.
4. Assembly elections were held in 59 of the 60 assembly constituencies of Nagaland on February 27, where 85.90 percent of the 13.16 lakh voters exercised their franchise. On the other hand, in the re-polling held at four polling stations on March 1, out of 3,248 voters, more than 72.29 per cent cast their vote.