Four states went to polls in early 2023 —Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Karnataka.
In Tripura, of the 60 seats in the Assembly, the BJP-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance won 33 seats, securing a second straight term as the INC-Left coalition managed just 14 seats. The state represents two Lok Sabha seats, with the CPI(M) in 2014, which shifted to the BJP in 2019. BJP National President J.P. Nadda will soon hold a rally in the state marking the beginning of the party’s campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In Meghalaya, an NDA government was formed by a coalition of 45 MLAs consisting of National People’s Party’s (NPP) 26 seats, United Democratic Party (UDP)’s 11, BJP’s two and remaining seats from smaller parties. The state has two Lok Sabha constituencies, one each held by the INC and the NPP in both 2014 and 2019. NPP’s victory in the state assembly, a result of the several pocket meetings and positive campaigning, is likely to leave a mark on the Lok Sabha elections as well. The BJP, keeping 2024 in mind, has announced its decision to not impose a ban on beef consumption in the state, a decision apparently aimed at the Christian and non-Christian populations of the state in good humour.
In Nagaland, which went to polls along with Tripura and Meghalaya, the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)- BJP coalition, won the election with 37 seats.
The state represents one Lok Sabha MP currently held by the NDPP. Presence of numerous local parties might lead to a multipolar contest for the single Lok Sabha seat even as the BJP’s “anti-Christian” image puts it on the back footing in the Christian dominant state.
Interestingly, BJP’s development work and infrastructural push across the northeast with investments of several hundred crores will likely be the pivotal poll plank to convince the electorate to vote in favour of Narendra Modi’s national leadership.