New Delhi: Emphasising that the Central government's development initiatives really work, the election results of three northeastern states have shown BJP's acceptance in Christian and tribal-dominated areas. The BJP is not only in a position to form the government in the three Northeastern states - Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, but it has also been able to increase its vote share, especially in Christian and tribal-dominated areas. Besides retaining its 12 seats, the BJP was able to increase its vote share from 15.30 percent in 2018 to 18.81 in 2023 in Nagaland.
There was no decrease in the number of seats (2) in Meghalaya for the party whereas its vote share is also high (9.33 per cent) in comparison to the regional parties like People's Democratic Front (PDF) and others. Although the number of seats in Tripura for the BJP has come down to 32 from its previous record of 36, the party was able to retain the highest vote share of 38.97 per cent.
It is, however, a little down from its previous record of 43.59 per cent. In spite of a claim made by the opposition parties to dethrone the BJP and its allies, especially in Tripura and Meghalaya, the party is in a position to rule the states for the next five years. "The result has shown the acceptance of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The result is also a reflection of the good governance by the BJP," said Law Minister Kiren Rijiju to this correspondent.
He expressed confidence that the party will retain power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "The result has also shown that Narendra Modi is accepted by people across the country," said Rijiju. He also criticised Rahul Gandhi's personalised politics, which the Gandhi scion used to flay Modi on all platforms.
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"If Rahul Gandhi or any other leaders of the opposition keep targettng Modi in this manner, they will also keep getting this kind of election results," Rijiju said. The election results in these three states were the first of such Assembly elections when six more states will go for polling by December 2023 and January next year.
Six more states, including Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana will go to poll next. Party leaders also attributed the election results to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's outreach and concentration on the Northeastern states. A senior BJP leader and national secretary of the party Sunil Deodhar told ETV Bharat that "this is the beginning of the party's winning spree in the elections".
"The result of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is here. We will definitely form the next government at the Centre next year," claimed Deodhar, who was the party in charge of Tripura during the 2018 Assembly elections. Party leaders believe that the Central government's initiative to bring all-round development in the Northeastern states has paid dividends.
As per government statistics, Prime Minister Modi visited the Northeastern states 44 times in the last six years. In 2021, Modi visited the North-East nine times, and eight times in 2022. Modi's Cabinet colleagues also used to visit the Northeastern states every fortnightly. As many as 74 ministers visited different states in the Northeast over the years to review the development projects. "The Northeastern states have witnessed a sea change in a sphere of development. We believe such change will also have its reflections in other stages as well," said Deodhar.
