BJP has edge in Tripura, Nagaland

NEW DELHI: Indicating a major boost for the BJP in the Northeast, at least two exit polls have given India’s ruling party an upper hand in Tripura, which has been a Marxist stronghold for 25 years.

The CVoter exit poll, along with that of Axis MyIndia and News24, predicts a stupendous rise of the BJP in Tripura. The Axis MyIndia and News24’s tally for the BJP-led NDA is 45-50 seats and 9-10 for the CPI (M)-led Left Front.

According to the CVoter exit poll, there might be a neck-toneck fight between the BJP — which has an alliance with IPFT — and the Left in Tripura. The CPI(M) is predicted to get 26-34 seats and the BJP’s alliance will get 24 to 32 seats in the 60-member assembly.

In Meghalaya, the CVoter exit poll gives the ruling Congress 13-19 seats, while according to the Axis MyIndia’s exit poll, the Congress will emerge as the single largest party with 20 votes. The local outfit NPP will get 14, while the BJP is tipped to get 5 seats. In CVoter’s estimate, the NPP will get 17-23 seats and the BJP 4-8 seats in Meghalaya. Political observers believe a good show by the NPP and the BJP will open the possibility of a post-poll alliance between these two parties. In Nagaland, the CVoter exit poll gave the BJP-led NDA 25-31 seats ahead of the NPF with 19-25 seats and the Congress with 0-4 seats. Axis MyIndia did not predict absolute numbers saying “Nagaland was a very difficult state to conduct exit poll survey.” But it said that NPF has an edge. Meghalaya and Nagaland also have 60 assembly seats.