Guwahati: Like a few other states of India, the results of the election in 2024, are a bit discouraging for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The result has shown that Christian voters in several Northeastern states and Muslim voters in Assam have decisively voted against the NDA. The outcome of the result in the entire Northeast highlighted some critical dynamics of the region which is apart from the rest of the country. It seems that the year-long violence has had a massive impact on the election, causing the BJP and NDA to lose a few seats in the North East.
In the trouble that hit Manipur, the BJP and NDA lost both seats. In the Meitei community dominated Inner Manipur seat, BJP lost it to the Congress candidate. Similarly, in the tribal dominated Outer Manipur the NDA alliance Naga People’s Front (NPF) candidate was defeated by the Congress candidate. Political analysts said that the prolonged violence in the state had a huge impact on the polls not only in Manipur but in all Christian dominated states of the region. Christian voters of Manipur have voted for congress and even the majority Meitei community also choose to vote for the Congress party resulting in a win for the party in both seats in Manipur.
In Meghalaya the NDA alliance and ruling NPP led By CM Conrad Sangma lost both the Tura and Shillong constituencies. CM Sangma’s sister and MP Agatha Sangma has lost the Tura constituency, a bastion for the Snaga family and represented by late P A Sangma for several terms, and twice by Agatha herself to the Congress candidate. In the Shillong seat, the NPP candidate lost to a new regional party VPP’s candidate by a huge margin. Here also it has been seen that the Christian voters have decisively voted against the NDA.
In the opposition less Christian-dominated Nagaland, the NDA alliance NDPP candidate lost to the Congress candidate in the lone seat.
In Mizoram, the ruling ZPM candidate emerged as the winner.
On the other hand, BJP has shown exceptional results in both Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. In Arunachal Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and MP Tapir Gao emerged as winners by defeating the Congress candidates. In Tripura, former CM Biplab Kumar Dev and royal scion Kriti Devi Debbarman won from both the seats. In Sikkim the lone seat was won by the ruling SKM candidate, which has also registered a historic win in the assembly elections to form the government for the second consecutive term. SKM is a NDA alliance partner.
In Assam, the outcome of the result showed that BJP and NDA had repeated their past performance under the leadership of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. The BJP has won 9 seats out of 11 seats it has contested. While NDA alliance AGP and UPPL have won one seat each. The opposition congress has managed to win 3 seats in Assam. Congress party deputy leader in parliament and MP Gaurab Gogoi won the Jorhat seat defeating BJP MP Tapan Gogoi. While the Congress MP from Nagaon Pradyut Bordoloi won for the second term from the minority dominated constituency. Surprisingly, Congress candidate Rockybul Hussain defeated Dhubri MP and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal with a huge margin.
It should be mentioned that BJP has won 13 seats in North East out of 15 seats it has contested. While the NDA has managed to win 16 seats in the region. On the other hand Congress has won 7 seats in the Northeast. Two regional parties ZPM and VPP won one seat each in Mizoram and Meghalaya, and they are not in any coalition.
