'There Won't Be Hung Assembly, BJP-Led NDA Will Form Govt In All 3 Northeastern States': Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Northeast Polls: Assam CM Sarma, who is also the NEDA convenor, has said that no NDA partner will go into any alliance with either Congress or the Trinamool Congress.

NEW DELHI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has expressed confidence that there would be no hung assemblies in the three northeastern states – Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya – that recently went to polls and that the coalition led by his party BJP will form the government there. “There won't be a hung assembly in any northeastern state. NDA will form govt in Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya,” Sarma said.

The Assam Chief Minister, who is also the NEDA convenor, further said that “Tripura will have a BJP CM, Nagaland will have a coalition government while that of Meghalaya will be decided as per seats won by the BJP.”

Sarma also said, "No NDA (National Democratic Alliance) partners will go into any alliance with either Congress or the Trinamool Congress. There will be no hung assembly. The NDA will form the government in all three states." 

Sarma’s remarks came a day after exit polls predicted that the ruling NDPP-BJP alliance would retain power in Nagaland. The exit polls showed while BJP has a clear edge over its rivals in Tripura, it predicted a close race in Meghalaya. The outcome of exit polls was telecast by news channels after the conclusion of polling in Meghalaya and Nagaland on Monday. 

Tripura

Tripura had gone to the polls on February 16. In Tripura where the BJP created history in 2018 by wresting the state from Left parties, the exit polls predicted that the BJP will be ahead of its rivals or get majority. India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicted that BJP would get 36-45 seats and the Left-Congress will get 6-11 seats. The exit poll gave 9-16 seats to Tipra Motha. The ZeeNews-Matrize exit poll predicted that BJP-IPFT will get 29-36 seats in the 60-member House. It said that Left-Congress combine is poised to get 13-21 seats and Tipra Motha 11-16.

The ETG-Times Now poll predicted BJP would get 24 seats, Left-Congress would get 21 seats and Tipra Motha 14 seats. The BJP had won 36 seats in the 2018 assembly election.

Nagaland

For the 60-member Nagaland assembly, India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicted that the NDPP-BJP alliance would get 38 to 48 seats. It said Congress is likely to win 1-2 seats, NPF may win 3-8 seats and other parties could get 5-15 seats. According to the Zee-Matriz exit poll, the NDPP-BJP alliance could get 35-43 seats. ETG-Times Now poll gave 27-33 seats to NDPP, 12-16 seats to BJP and 4-8 seats to NPF. 

Meghalaya

In the 60-member Meghalaya assembly, the Zee-Matrize exit poll predicted NPP will get 21-26 seats, Trinamool Congress 8-13 seats, BJP 6-11 seats and Congress 3-6 seats. India Today-Axis My India exit poll for the state predicted NPP getting 18-24 seats, Congress (6-12), BJP (4-8), UDP (8-12 seats) and TMC (5-9) seats. Times Now ETG exit poll predicted that NPP will get 18-26 seats, AITMC 8-14 seats, UDP 8-14 seats and BJP 3-6 seats.

Assembly elections were held in Tripura on February 16, and in Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27. Results will be declared on March 2. The counting of votes in all three states will take place on March 2.