Northeast Today Magazine - March 2018

In this issue

The 2018 Assembly polls in the states of Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura were interesting from several aspects. Even after winning 21 seats and becoming the single largest party in Meghalaya, the Congress, however, fell short by 10 seats from absolute majority required to form the government. The National People’s Party (NPP) with 19 seats and support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), United Democratic Party (UDP), People’s Democratic Front (PDF), and Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and an independent candidate, the NPP chief Conrad Sangma took oath as the new Meghalaya Chief Minister, bringing down the curtains to the 8-year Congress rule. The BJP juggernaut continued to roll on in the Northeast and with its pre-poll alliance partner Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the saffron party formed the government in Nagaland with Neiphiu Rio taking oath as the Chief Minister. In Tripura, by winning a mammoth 35 seats out of the 59 (where votes were cast), and its ally the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) winning 8 seats, the saffron party reached a combined strength of 43 seats and successfully dethroned the Manik Sarkar-led CPI (M) government of 25 years. The biggest loser in this election, however, was the Congress party. Apart from failing to form the government in Meghalaya, Congress could not even open account in Nagaland & Tripura Partha Prawal reports.