NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: The Election Commission Wednesday announced assembly polls in 180 seats across three northeastern states, starting with BJP-governed Tripura on February 16 and followed by simultaneous polling on February 27 in Meghalaya and Nagaland, where the saffron party is second in the pecking order of coalitions headed by regional giants.
Counting of votes is scheduled for March 2.Bypolls to six vacant assembly seats across five states two in Maharashtra and one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Jharkhand and the Lakshadweep parliamentary constituency will be held on February 27, the EC said.The stakes seem higher for BJP in the northeast this time as it aims to deepen its footprint in the region with a bold new approach, facing off against tribal ally IPFT in Tripura and its senior coalition partner in Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma's NPP.In Nagaland, BJP is reprising its 2018 seat-sharing arrangement with its current ally, CM Neiphiu Rio's NDPP, against the backdrop of boycott threats by Naga groups one set demanding a peace agreement with insurgent outfits before the polls and another a separate state comprising eastern Nagaland.BJP chief ministers currently lead governments in four of the seven contiguous states of the northeast, a tally it aspires to increase by at least one by adding Meghalaya to the list, sources said.
BJPs northeast strategist and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has made no secret of the party's aspiration to form the next government in Christian-majority Meghalaya.
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is also aiming to make inroads into CM Sangma's territory.The bigger battle for the Lok Sabha in 2024 is another reason why BJP is seen as being extra keen to gain more than just enough seats to remain in government.
The seven sisters jointly have 24 Lok Sabha seats, of which 17 are currently with NDA.
The only northeastern state where BJP does not have a stake in the government is Mizoram.
CM Zoramthanga's MNF remains an NDA ally at the Centre, though.
Mizoram will go to the polls later this year.In Tripura, the fledgling TIPRA Motha led by royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBarma is a potential thorn in the saffron partys side, having already reached out to BJP's ally IPFT.Congress, which governed the region for decades, lies bruised and battered in all three poll-bound states.
The grand old party didn't win a single seat in Nagaland and Tripura last time.
In Meghalaya, where it finished as the single largest party in 2018, former CM Mukul Sangma led more than half of the Congress MLAs to TMC last year.Polling dates announced for 3 states: Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura to set the pace for this years Assembly electionsThe Left, which was ousted from one of its strongest bastions in Tripura in a historic victory by BJP five years ago, is looking for partners this time to take on the saffron brigade.Around 62.8 lakh eligible voters, with women outnumbering men, hold the key to the northeast electoral contest.
The three states with 60-member assemblies each together have 1.76 lakh newly eligible voters in the 18-19 age group and 97,100 voters in the 80-plus category, of whom 2,644 are centenarians.While the terms of the current assemblies in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura don't end until March 12, 15 and 22, respectively, the EC decided to wrap up polling in February with an eye on the school board examinations, said chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, flanked by election commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel.Sources said polling in Tripura was scheduled first because of the threat of violence, requiring a larger concentration of central paramilitary forces.
Also, Tripura being a railhead allows direct access to central forces, some of which have already reached the state.
Once polling is completed in Tripura, most of these forces will move to Nagaland and Meghalaya.
The 12-day gap between polling in Tripura and the other two states is meant to facilitate the process.EC announces assembly election dates for Tripura, Nagaland and MeghalayaWatchEC announces assembly election dates for Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya