The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) state unit celebrated its victory in three northeastern states - Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya - in the recently concluded assembly elections. The main function was held at the party headquarters, where a large number of party workers and karyakartas gathered to rejoice in their victory.
The saffron flag was held high, and slogans were shouted as the party workers celebrated their win. The BJP's impressive performance in the northeastern states is being attributed to their strong focus on development and governance issues.
In Tripura, the BJP, along with its ally, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), won a landslide victory, ousting the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which had been ruling the state for over two decades.
In Meghalaya, National People's Party (NPP) president Conrad K Sangma on March 2 called on Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan and staked claim to form the government in the northeastern state. Sangma, the outgoing chief minister, claimed that he has an "absolute majority with 32 MLAs" on his side in the 60-member assembly but refused to give details of supporting parties.
The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-BJP alliance has returned to power in Nagaland winning 37 out of the 60 seats. Neiphu Rio, who is the longest serving chief minister of the state, is all set to retain his post for a fifth consecutive term. The septuagenarian leader has with this victory, broken the record of veteran leader S C Jamir, who helmed the northeastern state thrice.
NDPP won 25 seats and BJP 12. NDPP had contested 40 seats and won 25, while BJP won 12 of the remaining 20 it contested. For the first time, women candidates have been elected to the Nagaland assembly. Salhoutuonuo Kruse and Hekani Jakhalu of NDPP won the Western Angami and Dimapur-III constituencies respectively.