Assembly Election Results 2023 LIVE Updates: Stage set for first bout of electorally-crucial 2023. Counting in Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland to start at 8 AM – The Economic Times

The outcome of the keenly-fought battle in the three northeastern states is likely to have a bearing on the prospects of national parties in the series of state polls later this year. While elections have been held in Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya, six more states — Mizoram, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka — will go for polls later this year before the big battle of Lok Sabha in 2024.

BJP is hopeful that a positive outcome in state elections will give it momentum for the poll battles ahead.Stakes are high for the BJP as the three results will signal if it has deepened roots in Tripura, a Left bastion captured by the party in 2018, and made further inroads in Meghalaya and Nagaland, or the opposition has managed to dent its influence.

Among the three Northeastern states, it is Tripura which promises to have more national resonance than the two others as traditional rivals Congress and the Left have joined hands for the first time to challenge the BJP in the election to the state’s 60-member assembly.

The BJP had created a record in Tripura in 2018 election with a victory on 36 seats, ending 25-year old Left parties rule in Tripura. With the decline of its alliance partner IPFT, following the death of its founder N C Debbarma, the burden of delivering a majority rests largely on the shoulders of the BJP while its two main rivals Congress and CPM have formed an alliance.

Before the release of official result today, the exit polls have predicted a clear victory of BJP alliance in Tripura and Nagaland and a hung verdict in Meghalaya.

While Tripura saw 87.76 per cent polling, it was 85.90 per cent in Nagaland and 85.27 per cent in Meghalaya. Meghalaya and Nagaland went for the assembly polls on February 27 and voting was held in Tripura on February 16. The three states witnessed high voter turnout.

Election commission has made elaborate arrangement for counting of votes on all three states. Three-tier security measures have been put in place for the counting of votes in the three states. Prohibitory orders under 144 Cr Pc have been promulgated in and around all the locations of the counting centers as a precautionary measure.