New Delhi | The maiden alliance of the Left and the Congress in Tripura and the emergence of TIPRA Motha as a dominant force in tribal seats did not prove enough to topple the BJP from power in the state as the ruling party's development plank and ideological resonance surmounted local factors to deliver it another victory.
Among the three northeastern states that went to assembly polls, Tripura's verdict was the most keenly watched due to the high stakes for three national parties - the BJP, Congress and the Left - and the results underscored the continuity of momentum in the saffron party's favour.
The winning momentum is important for the BJP as the crucial state of Karnataka is next headed for assembly polls, expected in May, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram later this year.
The BJP-led NDA, in power in 16 states, also romped home to a facile win in Nagaland, where Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party is the senior partner.
But its ambition of emerging as a bigger player in Meghalaya was thwarted as it was leading in only three seats in the 60-member assembly.
It may be a junior partner in Nagaland and remains a minor player in Meghalaya but the results in the two states will be helpful for the party in making ideological points, its leaders noted.
Accused by rivals of being "anti-minority", the BJP has succeeded in improving its vote share to nearly 19 per cent from 15.3 per cent in Nagaland and bagging over nine per cent votes in Meghalaya. Both are largely Christian populated states and its performance will give the BJP a handy weapon to beat back the charge.
However, it is the Tripura results which will matter the most to the BJP as its win has underlined popular acceptance of the party in this erstwhile Left bastion which it won for the first time in 2018. Its vote share as well as seat tally have come down but things were worse for the Left-Congress alliance.
A point for concern, however, for the BJP will be the rise of Pradyut Debbarma-led TIPRA Motha and the decline of its tribal ally in IPFT, which could win a lone seat this time.
The BJP also suffered the embarrassment of the loss of its own most prominent tribal face and Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with BJP supporters celebrates the party's victory in Nagaland and Tripura Assembly elections at the party State headquarters in Bhopal on Thursday.
Tripura (60 seats)
BJP+ 33 (-11)
Cong+Left 14 (-2)
TIPRA 13 (+13)
Others 0 (0)
Nagaland (60 seats)
BJP+NDPP 37 (+7)
NPF 2 (-24)
Cong 0 (0)
Others 21 (+17)
Meghalaya (60 seats)
NPP 26 (+6)
UDP 11 (+5)
Cong 5 (-16)
TMC 5 (+5)
BJP 2 (0)
Others 10 (0)
