Counting In 3 Northeast States Today, BJP Hopes For Big Win: 10 Points

1. "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," Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Chief Minister and the BJP's chief strategist in the northeast, has said. The outcome will be bellwether for the party in the northeast ahead of next year's general elections.
2. Exit polls have predicted a BJP victory in Tripura, though by a slim margin. A tight race is predicted in Meghalaya, with Conrad Sangma's National People's Party emerging as the frontrunner.  In Nagaland, the BJP and its partner NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party) will have a comfortable win. Exit polls, though, can often get it wrong.
3. In Meghalaya, the BJP and Conrad Sangma's NPP contested the election solo after a five-year alliance. But today, ahead of the counting, Mr Sangma met Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati. Sources said they have discussed the possibility of a post-poll alliance, though the leaders played it down as a "meeting between friends".
4. In case the BJP-NPP alliance fails to get the numbers, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress can play a key role. An aggregate of four exit polls have predicted that the BJP will get seven seats, up from two, which would take the strength of the alliance to 27 seats, four short of majority in the 60-member assembly.
5. The BJP-led North East Development Alliance, or NEDA, headed by Mr Sarma, has, however, announced that it would not team up with the Congress or the Trinamool Congress to form government in Meghalaya.
6. In Tripura, the BJP is hoping for a big comeback, far above its 2018 score of 36. The party has contested in alliance with ruling partner Indigenous Progressive Front of Tripura, or IPFT. But Chief Minister Manik Saha has said the BJP will attain majority without the help of the ally, like last time.
7. The CPM, which ruled Tripura for 35 years, has joined forces with the Congress in what is largely being seen as a last-ditch effort to regain its numbers. Over the last five years, both parties have suffered a massive erosion of their support base. The CPM contested 47 of the state's 60 seats, leaving just 13 for the Congress .
8. The Tipra Motha – the new party floated by former royal Pradyot Kishore Debbarma with the core demand of Greater Tipraland – is also hoping for a chunk of seats and a chance to play kingmaker. The BJP had initially attempted to build a rapport with the Tipra Motha, but its overtures were met with rebuff after the party declared that it would not allow any division of Tripura.
9. In Nagaland, while the ruling alliance is hoping to sail through, the seats to watch out for include Northern Angami 1, from where Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is contesting. Tyui is the stronghold of the BJP's Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton.
10. Results will also be declared for a series of by-polls – the Erode (East) seat in Tamil Nadu, Sagardighi in West Bengal, Ramgarh in Jharkhand and Kasba Peth and Chinchwad in Maharashtra.

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