BJP eyes best performance in Northeast; leads in Assam

GUWAHATI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have registered its best-ever performance in the Northeast in the just-concluded parliamentary elections.

While BJP has already won two seats each in Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura and emerged victorious in one seat in Manipur, it is leading in nine seats in Assam.

BJP contested a total of 18 seats in the region that has a total 25 seats up for grabs. The rest were contested by allies.


In 2014, BJP on its own won eight seats across the region.

The mandate is a reflection of people’s faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

“With his principle of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’, the Prime Minister has given a voice to the marginalised. Through his value-based politics, honesty, integrity and hard work, he has rekindled patriotic fervour amongst the Indians and materialized the vision of a corruption free India,” he said.

“The Northeast, which has always been neglected by the Congress, has turned into a new growth hub of the country under the NDA government,” he said.

BJP won from the Karimganj constituency in Assam and the Arunachal West Lok Sabha seat, held by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju. BJP ally Mizo National Front’s candidate, Zothantluanga, won from Mizoram. In Nagaland, Tokheto Yepthomi, the candidate from the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and BJP ally, is leading. National People’s Party (NPP) candidate Agatha Sangma won from Tura in Meghalaya, another victory for a BJP partner.

However, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a key BJP ally in the region, failed to open its account and lost the three seats it contested. In 2014, too, the AGP could not win any seat.

BJP ally Bodoland People’s Front candidate Parmila Rani Brahma is trailing, while sitting MP and independent candidate Naba Sarania is leading from Assam’s Kokrajhar seat.

Parties including the Congress, and independents, have won five seats.

Congress candidate Vincent Pala won the Shillong seat, and it leading in three seats in Assam.