The CPI(M)-led Left Front in Tripura, the Congress in Meghalaya and the Naga People’s Front in Nagaland have exceeded their own expectations in recapturing their respective state Assemblies in the recent polls for which results were announced on Thursday.
But the results also show that the Congress as a national party fell far short of its objective in Tripura and Nagaland, although it performed with style in Meghalaya, taking handsome winnings even in the Garo Hills area, the pocket borough of Purno A. Sangma, former Lok Sabha Speaker who had contested in last summer’s presidential election.
In Tripura, the fifth-in-a-row victory of the Left under chief minister Manik Sarkar is striking as well. The small border state is not subject to any of the vagaries of small states, which are given to rampant corruption, a strong defection syndrome, and (in the Northeast) arms flows and insurgencies. Mr Sarkar’s exemplary leadership has shown the way, and also kept the Congress at bay.
In Nagaland, the regional party has come back for the third consecutive time, suggesting that it remains close to popular sentiment, and the Congress has fared much worse than in 2008 as it picked the wrong candidates, the party’s woe almost everywhere.
In Assembly byelections in various states, the ruling parties have done very well, with the exception of West Bengal. The Trinamul Congress could pick up only one of three seats, while the Congress and the Left Front bagged one each. These are signs of disquiet for Mamata Banerjee’s party.