July 17, 2026

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. Condrad’s 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.