After the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly election on Sunday, party leader and Chief Minister Pema Khandu described it as a “historic day” for the state, ANI reported.
The BJP won 46 seats in the northeastern state, while the National People’s Party won 5 constituencies. Three seats went to the Nationalist Congress Party, three to independents, two to the People’s Party of Arunachal and one to the Congress.
The Hindutva party won 54.57% of the popular mandate, as against 16.11% for the National People’s Party and 10.43% for the Nationalist Congress Party.
The BJP improved its tally from the 2019 Assembly election, when it had won 41 out of 60 seats.
“This is a historic day for Arunachal Pradesh, especially for the BJP,” Khandu said after the results were declared. “The party set a new record in these Assembly elections...There is pro-incumbency for the BJP.”
The chief minister said that the BJP will stake claim to form the new government after the results of the Lok Sabha election are declared.
State Congress chief Nabam Tuki said his party was “disappointed but not demoralised” by the outcome, PTI reported. “We will introspect about the causes of the defeat and work on the organisation in the coming days,” he said.
Ten BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu were already elected unopposed to the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly on March 30 before polling. In five of these constituencies, Opposition parties did not field their candidates. In the other five seats, candidates of Opposition parties withdrew their nominations by March 30, which was the last day of withdrawal of candidature.
Polling for Arunachal Pradesh’s remaining 50 Assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha seats was held on April 19.
Apart from Arunachal Pradesh, votes were also counted for the Sikkim Assembly election on Sunday. The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won 31 out of 32 seats in the state, while the Sikkim Democratic Front won the remaining constituency.
In the 2019 Assembly election, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha had won 17 out of 32 seats, ending the 24-year rule of the Sikkim Democratic Front.
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha founder and Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang also said on Sunday that he would take oath after the Lok Sabha election results, like his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart, according to the Hindustan Times.
“SKM will remain a close partner of BJP and will work in close co-ordination with the Centre,” he said.
While the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha and BJP fought the Assembly election separately, Tamang maintained on Sunday that his party is a member of the National Democratic Alliance, according to The Indian Express.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha after the election results and said he looked forward to working with the state government.
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