New Delhi: Tripura will vote for a new government on February 16th, and Meghalaya and Nagaland on the 27th, with results on March 2, the Election Commission announced on January 18.
The terms of all three state assemblies, each with a strength of 60 members, end in March – Nagaland on March 12, Meghalaya on March 15 and Tripura on March 22. The poll schedule of the three states was chalked out keeping in mind high school examinations and the movement of security forces, reports said.
“There are more than 62.8 lakh electors combined in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura including – 31.47 lakh female electors, 97,000 80-plus voters. Over 1.76 lakh first-time voters to participate in the elections in 3 states,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a news conference.
While the three north-eastern states are the first to have assembly polls this year, a special focus will be on Tripura, which the BJP won for the first time in 2018.
The BJP is also part of the government in Meghalaya, where the National People’s Party (NPP), the only party from the Northeast to have a national status, will be defending its turf.
In Nagaland, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party runs the government in Meghalaya, also in alliance with the BJP. After the BJP’s historic win in Tripura in 2018, ending 25 years of communist rule, Biplab Deb became the Chief Minister.
Meghalaya, currently ruled by Conrad Sangma’s NPP, has seen a series of new political alignments in the lead-up to the elections, with several legislators switching sides.
The NPP and its ally BJP have experienced growing fissures in recent months, but the two parties are expected to contest the elections together.
In Nagaland, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the BJP, and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) is going strong, and the elections will be an interesting affair as there is no significant opposition.
