Exit Polls: Nagaland And Meghalaya
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2023-02-28 15:32:02
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Nagaland
recorded 85% turnout in the polls held yesterday. This was 2 percentage points
more than the 2018 turnout. The exit polls showed that it was a pro-incumbency
vote and the BJP-NDPP alliance was set to sweep the polls. Chief Minister
Neiphiu Rio looks set for a fifth term. While there was divergence in all exit
polls in Tripura and Meghalaya, the Nagaland polls showed that the people of
the state have firmly backed the NDA alliance for the second time.
In
Meghalaya, though, the exit poll results showed that the script has not
changed. The state is famous for not backing any single party ever since the
All Party Hill Leaders Conference got a simple majority in the first assembly
elections in 1972. The state has always delivered a fractured mandate after
that. The Congress got 29 seats in 2013 and that was the closest any party got
to the majority mark after 1972. This time too, chief minister Conrad Sangma's
NPP is predicted to win 21 seats, far short of majority.
Although
NPP and BJP are ruling the state in alliance, both parties had decided to
contest separately. The BJP had just 2 seats in the outgoing assembly and is
predicted to get 6 seats this time. But that will not be enough for it to
support the NPP and form the government, unless the two parties take help from
smaller parties or independents.
The
surprise packet in Meghalaya is the Trinamool Congress. Exit polls show that
the party, which contested on all 60 seats in the state, is likely to win 11
seats. If that happens, the TMC will be poised to play kingmaker. Acknowledging
the fact, Conrad Sangma, whose NPP is predicted to be in pole position, has
already said that his party will keep all its options open. Condradâs father the
late P A Sangma was once with Mamata Banerjee in TMC and the two parties may
form an alliance if NPP fails to strike a deal with the BJP.
