Is NPP-BJP alliance still on cards? Here's what Sangma-Sarma meet suggests

Meghalaya Chief Minister Cornad K Sangma met the Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma ahead of the counting of votes for the Meghalaya assembly elections. According to sources, the meeting of both leaders on Tuesday night at a hotel in Guwahati has raised the political mercury. 

“Sangma was in Guwahati last night and Sarma, his friend, came and visited him at the hotel. They had a one-to-one meeting,” a source told PTI. CM Sarma, who also heads the BJP-led North East Development Alliance (NEDA), represents the northeast for the BJP up to a great extent. 

The meeting has raised the mercury in the political space as it came amid exit polls predicting a hung assembly in Meghalaya with Sangma’s NPP emerging as the single largest party in the assembly elections. The polling in Nagaland Assembly Elections 2023 was held on February 27 and the counting of votes and results will be declared on March 2. 

After the 2018 elections, the BJP and NPP ran the government in Meghalaya as a part of the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA). However, both the parties left each other's hand ahead of the 2023 assembly elections.

On Tuesday, Assam CM Sarma also claimed that there will be no hung assembly in any of the poll-bound northeastern states as the BJP and its partners will form governments with an absolute majority in all three states.

He also claimed that no NEDA members will go on the boat of Congress and TMC, hinting at BJP-NPP strong position. The next Meghalaya chief minister will be decided after considering the number of seats won by the BJP, he added. 

Nagaland Elections 2023: 

According to the P-MARQ exit poll results, the state is heading towards a hung assembly for the second consecutive time after the 2018 elections. However, the NPP is likely to emerge as the single-largest party, followed by TMC, Congress and the BJP. 

The P-MARQ exit poll shows that the ruling NPP will get 14-24 seats, TMC will bat on 8-18 seats, Congress, which was the largest party in the last elections with 21 seats, will settle at around 4-10 seats and the BJP will lead in nearly 5 seats. 

The counting for the Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2023 is underway. Latest trends shows NPP leading ahead in race followed by the BJP, UDP, TMC and Congress. According to the election commission, the political parties are required to cross the 31 seats mark to constitute their government.