The poll season has officially begun in northeast with the Election Commission announcing election schedule for Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Assembly polls will be held in Tripura on February 16 and in Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27, with the counting of votes scheduled for March 2, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Wednesday. The Model Code of Conduct comes into force in these states with this announcement.
While the term of Tripura Assembly ends on March 22, the terms of the Nagaland and Meghalaya and Tripura assemblies end on March 15 respectively. The three state assemblies have a strength of 60 members each.
While Tripura has a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) is in power in Nagaland. The National People’s Party (NPP), the only political party from the northeast to have a national party recognition, runs the government in Meghalaya.
Here is everything you need to know about politics of these poll-bound states:
TRIPURA
The BJP swept power in Tripura winning 35 seats in the 2018 Assembly elections. But the difference of vote margin between the BJP and its challenger Left was less than 2% in the 60-member Assembly. The BJP replaced Biplab Deb as chief minister with Manik Saha, a strategy it has used in several other states to beat anti-incumbency. Last year, the party had rejigged the organization at the state level, setting up 30 panels to take care of poll duties.
The BJP ties with its key ally — tribal outfit Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) have strained and a decision has not been taken yet if their alliance would continue. The Left and Congress have decided to come together to fight the BJP. The BJP also faces a threat from Tipra Motha which had secured a landslide victory in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).
A new player Tipra Motha, founded by Pradyut Manikya (the royal successor who was previously was with the Congress), said it will field candidates in 40-45 seats in the Tripura Assembly election.
Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma has given a call for separate Tipraland. He has openly declared that he would get into an alliance with any party which assures him this. Sources in Tipra Motha claim that the IPFT is in talks with their organisation.
MEGHALAYA
In 2018, National People’s Party (NPP), which had 20 seats, joined hands with the BJP which had won two seats to form the government. NPP supremo and chief minister Conrad Sangma leads the ruling six-party Meghalaya Democratic Alliance. The BJP, which has two MLAs, was part of the MDA. The MDA government is the third coalition to last its full term in power in the state in over 50 years.
But this time, Sangma announced his party would contest 2023 election alone. The NPP has declared candidates for 58 seats.
Trinamool Congress, which failed to open account in last polls, is also trying to make inroads in Meghalaya. Twelve MLAs of the Congress had switched over to the TMC, reducing the Congress’ strength to zero in the state assembly. Of the 12 MLAs, 3 MLAs have already left the TMC, 2 have gone to the NPP and 1 to the BJP. Mukul Sangma is hopeful that the TMC will do well in the assembly election and Mamata Banerjee will be visiting Meghalaya for the second time with Abhishek Banerjee on January 18.
NAGALAND
The BJP entered into an alliance with Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) ahead of 2018 Nagaland polls and formed the government. The BJP is planning to field candidates in 20 constituencies and support NDPP candidates in 40 others in the 2023 elections, India Today had reported. A headache of the BJP-led alliance is the demand of a separate state by seven tribes by carving out 16 districts of Nagaland.
In 2018, the Naga People’s Front (NPF) got 26 seats, NDPP 18, BJP 12, NPP 2, JDU 1 and Independent 1.
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