BJP tipped for wins in Nagaland, Tripura; tight in Meghalaya

New Delhi, February 27 : The Bharatiya Janata Party will retain power in Tripura with help from the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, and form the government in Nagaland with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, while Meghalaya might witness a hung Assembly, exit polls said Monday evening after voting concluded for elections in the three north-eastern states; Meghalaya and Nagaland voted today while Tripura voted on February 16. Each state has a 60-seat Assembly.

India Today-Axis My India has predicted an easy win for the BJP and the IPFT, giving them between 36 and 45 seats. The Left alliance is projected to win between six and 11 seats. The Tipra Mothra – founded by royal family head Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma in 2019 – may win between nine and 16 seats. The Congress may be routed for a second successive election.

It does not, however, appear to be plain sailing for the saffron party in Tripura, with Times Now-ETG Research and Zee News-Matrize placing them just short of majority and giving the Left a decisive share of 18-24 and 13-21 seats. Times Now gives the BJP 21-27 seats and Zee News gives it 29-36, while both also agree the Congress will get zero. These two exit polls suggests a very different story – a hung Assembly.

Times Now predicts 39-49 seats for the BJP and zero for the Congress, with the Naga People’s Front only expected to get between four and eight seats. Similarly, Zee News gives the BJP 35-43 seats and two-five for the NPF, while India Today expects 38-48 for the BJP and three-eight for the NPF. Both Zee and India Today give the Congress between one and two seats.

Initial trends suggest a hung Assembly in Meghalaya, with no single party (or alliance) even close to the majority mark. The BJP is not expected to get more than 11 seats on its own – Zee News gives it six to 11 seats and Times Now three to six – and the Congress is not expected to get more than six – Zee News predicts three to six and Times Now between two and five. The party expected to emerge as the largest is the NDPP, which is allied with the BJP. Times Now gives it 18-26 seats and Zee News 21-26.