What are the stakes and how things stand in Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya

The BJP will be looking to put up a good performance in the states of Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland. These elections would kickstart a year filled with elections in the run up to 2024

New Delhi, Jan 18: 2023 will be the year of elections and it would kickstart with the Election Commission of India announcing the poll dates for the Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura elections.

Polls in the three northeastern states will be followed by elections in Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana. Elections are also likely to be held in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and together the tone will be set for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Let us take a look at how things stand in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland:

Tripura:

There are 60 seats up for grabs in Tripura and in the previous elections the BJP registered a historic win by ousting the CPM. The BJP won 33, CPM, 15 and Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), 4.

Following the win, the BJP made Biplab Deb the CM, but he was replaced with Dr. Manik Saha due to performance issues.

The big challenge for Saha would be to iron out differences in the state unit. Further the relationship with the IPFT is not exactly hunky dory. Union Home Minister, Amit Shah had to intervene to iron out these differences when he paid a visit to the state to flag off the Jana Vishwas Yatra.

This time too the Left and Congress will fight the elections together like they did in 2018. The two parties would also face a challenge from the TMC which has been trying to increase its base in the state.

The Congress is also facing the seat since former party member Pradyut Maikya founded the Tipra Motha relying on his influence on the tribal seats. The BJP's Hangsha Kumar Tripura has also joined this party with his tribal supporters. Another BJP leader who joined the Tipra is Burba Mohan.

Nagaland:

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio of the ruling coalition the United Democratic Alliance is going strong in the state as there is hardly any opposition. The alliance also comprise the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDDP), BJP and Naga People's Front (NPF).

The NDPP-BJP alliance was formed ahead of the 2018 elections. Moreover, 21 NPF MLAs joined the UDA ensuring that there is hardly any opposition. In 2018, NPF won 26 seats, the NDDP, 18, BJP 12, NPP, 2 and JD(U), 1.

This time the BJP is likely to fight in 20 of the 60 seats while backing the NDPP candidates in 40. One of the reasons the BJP feels that it may perform well this time is due to the partial lifting of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA. The BJP will also be cautious of the fact that recently three district presidents joined the JD(U).

In Nagaland the other issue is that seven tribes have been demanding a separate state Frontier Nagaland by carving out 16 districts of the state. The Centre had recently held a meeting on this issue to find a way out.

Meghalaya:

Of the 60 seats in Meghalaya, the Conrad Sangma led, National People's Party (NPP) has 20. The United Democratic Party (UDP) has 8, the People's Democratic Front (PDF), 2, BJP, 2 while 2 others are independents. Here the TMC is in the opposition with 9 seats.

In the 2018 elections, the Congress was the largest party with 21 seats but fell short of the majority mark.

The BJP went on to support the NPP for from the government and Sangma became the CM. Recently Sangma had said that his party would fight the elections on its own. Meanwhile two MLAs of the NPP joined the BJP.

The coalition partners are mending ways and the BJP this time hopes to lead the coalition. All eyes would be on the role Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma would play as he is the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor.