New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has expressed confidence that there will be no hung assembly in the three northeastern states – Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya – where elections were held recently and his party BJP-led coalition will form governments in all three. states. “There will be no hung assembly in any northeastern state. Sarma said, NDA will form government in Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya.
The Chief Minister of Assam, who is also the convenor of NEDA, further said that “Tripura will have a BJP chief minister, Nagaland will have a coalition government while Meghalaya will be decided according to the seats won by the BJP.”
Sarma also said, “No NDA (National Democratic Alliance) ally will go into any alliance with Congress or Trinamool Congress. There will be no hung assembly. NDA will form government in all the three states.”
Sarma’s remarks came a day after exit polls predicted that the ruling NDPP-BJP alliance would retain power in Nagaland. Exit polls have shown that while the BJP has a clear lead over its rivals in Tripura, a close contest is predicted in Meghalaya. Exit poll results were telecast on news channels after polling in Meghalaya and Tripura ended on Monday.
Tripura
Polling was held in Tripura on 16 February. In Tripura where the BJP created history by wresting the state from the Left parties in 2018, exit polls predicted that the BJP would be ahead of its rivals or win a majority. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicted 36-45 seats for the BJP and 6-11 for the Left-Congress. The exit polls had given Tipra Motha 9-16 seats. The ZeeNews-Matrize exit poll predicted that the BJP-IPFT would get 29-36 seats in the 60-member house. It said the Left-Congress alliance is expected to get 13-21 seats and Tipra Motha 11-16 seats.
The ETG-Times Now poll has predicted 24 seats for the BJP, 21 for the Left-Congress and 14 for Tipra Motha. In the 2018 assembly elections, BJP had won 36 seats.
Nagaland
For the 60-member Nagaland Assembly, the India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicted 38 to 48 seats for the NDPP-BJP alliance. It said that Congress is likely to win 1-2 seats, NPF may win 3-8 seats and other parties may get 5-15 seats. According to the Zee-Matrix exit poll, the NDPP-BJP alliance may get 35-43 seats. The ETG-Times Now poll had given 27-33 seats to NDPP, 12-16 seats to BJP and 4-8 seats to NPF.
Meghalaya
In the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly, the Zee-Matrize exit poll predicted 21-26 seats for the NPP, 8-13 for the Trinamool Congress, 6-11 for the BJP and 3-6 for the Congress. India Today-Axis My India exit polls have given NPP 18-24 seats, Congress (6-12), BJP (4-8), UDP (8-12 seats) and TMC (5-9) for the state. Predicted. The Times Now ETG exit poll predicted 18-26 seats for the NPP, 8-14 for the AITMC, 8-14 for the UDP and 3-6 for the BJP.
Elections were held in Tripura on 16 February and in Nagaland and Meghalaya on 27 February. The results will be declared on 2 March. The counting of votes in all the three states will take place on March 2.