BJP conquers Left Citadel in Tripura; Saffron surge in NE

ONI Bureau: In a massive verdict, which may change the political equation across India, the BJP led by PM Narendra Modi ended 25-year Left rule in Tripura and registered a landslide victory.

Out of 59 (60) seats that went to polls, BJP is now ahead in 43 seats (35 BJP & IPFT 8), while the Left Front is leading in just 16 seats. The BJP had just 1.5% vote share in the state in 2013. The Left had a 48.11% vote share followed by 36% of Congress. However, things changed fast, thanks to great poll strategy by Modi-Shah duo with the active involvement of Ram Madhav, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Sunil Deodhar.

India’s ‘poorest CM’ Manik Sarkar had a tough time to retain his own seat. It was a huge saffron surge in Tripura, which may compel the Congress and Left to join hands to stop BJP elsehwere in the country in the run up to 2019 polls. The RSS played a key role in winning Tripura.

In Nagaland, BJP and its ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) are ahead of BJP’s former ally Naga People’s Front (NPF) and may be able to form the government there too.

In Meghalaya, Congress is just ahead of National People’s Party (NPP), but falling short of majority. with many smaller parties holding the edge to government formation in the state and NPP showing signs of allying with the BJP, it may go with the saffron party too.