Advantage BJP in Tripura, Nagaland

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has consolidated its position from a marginal player in the region to the major political party with a favourable Assembly poll results in three states of northeast. 

The party has clear a majority in Tripura with 40 seats and in Nagaland, NDPP and the BJP combine won 30 seats in the 60-member Assembly, while Meghalaya polls threw a hung verdict. The National People`s Party (NPP) on Sunday met Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad and staked claim to form the next government in the state.

The NPP, which secured 19 seats on its own, has the backing of six United Democratic Party (UDP) legislators, four People`s Democratic Front (PDF) MLAs, two each from the BJP and Hill State People`s Democratic Party (HSPDP) MLAs and an Independents legislator, taking the combined strength of the alliance to 34. 

In Meghalaya, the Congress staked a claim to form a government in the state after meeting Governor Ganga Prasad. A delegation of three Congress leaders -- Kamal Nath, Ahmed Patel and CP Joshi -- met the Governor on Saturday night.

"We met the Governor and sought his invitation to the single largest party to be called first to form the government as per convention," former Union minister Nath said. The Congress won 21 seats out the 59 that went to polls last month and was 10 seats short of a simple majority.

Earlier, Meghalaya Congress working president Vincent H Pala had expressed confidence that regional parties such as the United Democratic Party and the People's Democratic Front will join the Congress.

However, the BJP had said it was ready to provide all support to form a non-Congress government in the hill state but the initiative has to be taken by the regional outfit National People's Party (NPP), which bagged the second-highest 19 seats. 

After heavy losses in Tripura and Nagaland, Nath, Patel and Joshi reached Meghalaya from Delhi in a bid to form a government, party sources said. The Congress has been in power in the state for the last 10 years.

In Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio has the majority and should form the government, Governor P B Acharya said after a meeting with the NDPP leader. Rio claimed he had the support of 32 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly. Acharya has asked Rio to submit signatures of all the 32 MLAs supporting him by Monday.

A senior leader of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), an ally of the BJP, said Rio, in his meeting with the Governor, evinced confidence to form the government in Nagaland.

Meanwhile, outgoing Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar submitted his resignation to Governor Tathagata Roy, a day after the CPI(M)-led Left Front was dethroned by the BJP-IPFT coalition after nearly 25 years in power. The governor advised Sarkar to continue until the new chief minister takes oath.

Tripura BJP president Biplab Kumar Deb, who is likely to be the party`s Chief Ministerial candidate, on Sunday met Manik Sarkar and took his blessings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the people of the northeast have rejected the "politics of hate" by "unanimously" voting the BJP to power. Modi, while addressing a youth convention in Tumakuru about 70 km from here via video-conferencing, said the poll results of Tripura had given him immense joy. "The brothers and sisters of the Northeast have rejected the politics of hate by unanimously voting the BJP to power," he said.