Explained | The big northeast battle en route to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections

A look at electoral contests on the cards this year in the northeast and their significance.

The story so far: The Election Commission kicked off a busy poll season with the announcement of the schedule for the first round of Assembly elections on Wednesday. The three northeastern States of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya will open the poll battle, followed by Mizoram. Tripura will vote on February 16, while Meghalaya and Nagaland will go to the polls on February 27, with the counting of votes on March 2. The EC is yet to announce the poll schedule for Mizoram. 

Besides the Northeast, polls are due in the key States of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana this year, in what is being touted as the semi-final before the mega final in 2024.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is looking to strengthen its presence in the Northeast, has switched to poll mode. At the recently held national executive meet in New Delhi, party president J.P. Nadda outlined the significance of the upcoming Assembly polls in nine States in the run-up to next year’s general elections and asked party workers to ensure BJP’s victory in all the contests.

In 2018, the BJP stormed to power in Tripura, wresting control from the Left Front which ruled the State for over two decades. The saffron party fought the election with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the alliance secured a two-thirds majority in the 60-member House, winning 43 seats of which BJP bagged 35. The State is poised to witness an interesting four-corner contest this year.

While the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to retain power, the CPI(M) has joined hands with the Congress to recapture lost influence — a development that is being seen as a major shift in the political landscape of the State, considering that the two parties have been arch-rivals.

Defeating the BJP is a key priority for the alliance. “The people want to end the BJP’s rule and giving due respect to the people’s wish, we have decided to fight the election jointly. The number of seats is not important but the defeat of BJP is the main agenda,” said. CPI(M) State Secretary Jitendra Choudhury.

The BJP believes this alliance would be good for their party. “Earlier, they used to maintain cosy relations covertly, and now it will be in the open. The CPI(M) had ruled Tripura for 25 years because of the understanding with the Congress,” says BJP State President Rajib Bhattacharjee.