GUWAHATI: The NDA whitewashed the Congress and made a clean sweep in the bypolls held in in the four NE states of Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya where it rules by winning all 10 seats - five in Assam, three in Meghalaya and one each in Nagaland and Mizoram.
Of these 10 seats, the BJP won three and the UPPL two in Assam. While the three seats in Meghalaya have been shared by the NPP (2) and the UDP (1), the MNF has won the lone seat in Mizoram.
The other lone seat in Nagaland has been won by NDPP uncontested.
In Mizoram, the BJP fought against its NDA ally, the MNF, for the Tuirial seat. In Meghalaya, all three NDA partners - BJP, NPP and UDP - fought against each other for the Rajabala seat which was bagged by the NPP. In Mawphlang, where the UDP and the NPP were pitted against each other, the UDP emerged victorious.
While BJP and its partners have made a gain of eight seats, the combined strength of the Congress in the legislative assemblies in three of the four states have been reduced by four seats. Assam's second biggest opposition AIUDF has also lost one seat, which has gone to BJP. Congress has no representative in the Nagaland assembly, which recently became opposition-less after the NPF joined hands with the ruling alliance led by the NDPP.
Assam CM and North East Democratic Alliance (Neda) convener Himanta Biswa Sarma, who led the elections for the first time as chief minister, said, "Today's electoral victory, not just in Assam but also in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram, in a way reflects that the people of the northeast have once again reposed their faith in the leadership of PM Narendra Modi's visionary policies."
