Left wins in Tripura, Congress in Meghalaya, NPF wins Nagaland

The Left Front on Thursday retained power in Tripura for the fifth consecutive time, sweeping 50 of the 60 seats and leaving the Congress badly bruised with just 10 seats. The CPI-M bagged 49 seats while the Communist Party of India (CPI) won one seat. It was the best result for the Left since 1978, when it won a record 56 seats. It increased its 2008 tally by one seat. [caption id=“attachment_644086” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Khasi women carry their babies and walk towards a polling station to cast their votes in Marngar, Meghalaya. AP[/caption] Hundreds of Left activists, mainly from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), celebrated and across the state as election results left the Congress in gloom. “This is a verdict in favour of development, peace and stability besides good governance,” a beaming Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told IANS. While the Congress managed to retain its 2008 tally of 10 seats, its ally the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) drew blank. It had won one seat five years ago. The Trinamool Congress, which fielded 22 candidates in 2008, did not contest this time to prevent a split in non-Left votes. But even that did not help the Congress. Tripura made history when a record 93.57 percent of the 2.3 million voters exercised their franchise Feb 14. There were 249 candidates. The Left has ruled Tripura since 1978 barring one term (1988-93). In Nagaland, The Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) on Thursday won 21 seats and was leading nine others as officials counted votes to decide who will control the 60-member assembly in Nagaland. The NPF is the main constituent of the ruling DAN government. The Congress, the main opposition party, had won only three seats till 2 p.m. and was leading in another three. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) bagged two seats, election officials said. A partner in the DAN, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won one seat while the Janata Dal-United was leading in one seat. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rio is likely to retain his Northern Angami seat for the fifth time. In Meghalaya, the Congress emerged as the single largest party securing 29 seats in the 60-member assembly, with Chief Minister Mukul Sangma set for a second term. “The people have responded to us for good governance and development,” a jubilant Sangma, 47, told IANS by phone from Tura, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills. Sangma retained his Ampati constituency for the fifth successive term, defeating his nearest National People’s Party (NPP) rival by more than 9,000 votes. His wife Dikkachi D. Shira and his brother Zenith M. Sangma were victorious from Mahendraganj and Rangsakona constituency. The Congress won four more seats than in 2008. “I am glad that the people of Meghalaya reposed faith in the Congress,” Sangma said. There were celebrations across Meghalaya in the Congress camp with victory processions being taken out and jubilant supporters and candidates bursting crackers and distributing sweets. Of the 122 Independents, 13, including two former Congress legislators - Saleng A. Sangma and Samuel Sangma - who were denied Congress tickets also won. The electoral battle proved fatal for former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma’s NPP as only two of its 32 candidates won. Meghalaya Result Status 60/60 constituencies Indian National Congress 29 Nationalist Congress Party 2 Hill State People’s Democratic Party 4 National People’s Party 2 United Democratic Party 8 Others 15 Nagaland Result Status 59/60 constituencies Naga Peoples Front 38 Indian National Congress 8 Nationalist Congress Party 4 Bharatiya Janata Party 1 Janata Dal (United) 1 Others 7 Tripura Result Status 60/60 constituencies Communist Party of India (Marxist) 49 Communist Party of India 1 Indian National Congress 10