2023 is a busy year for state elections, with a total of nine state elections scheduled to take place. We are in March now, and three of those assembly polls have concluded. In all three – Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya – the incumbents have been returned to power.
The BJP was voted back in Tripura, although with a reduced vote share, while in Nagaland, the alliance of the National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the BJP are back in power. In Meghalaya, interestingly, in its election campaign, the BJP had branded the government of the Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP) as the “most corrupt” state government in the country. But after the polls, it has chosen to extend support to the NPP.
So what are the implications of these election results for the North-East? With barely 13 months to go for the 2024 general elections, what are the takeaways for the two main national parties – the BJP and the Congress? Were there any lessons to be drawn with regard to Opposition unity?