ITANAGAR — The BJP on Sunday returned to power in Arunachal Pradesh for the third time in a row, as the party won 46 seats in the 60-member assembly and secured a majority, Election Commission officials said.
Votes were counted for 50 assembly segments for which elections were held in the northeastern state along with Lok Sabha polls on April 19. The rest 10 seats were won by the saffron party uncontested.
Of the 50 seats, the BJP secured 36 seats and Chief Minister Pema Khandu is one of the 10 candidates who won unopposed.
Taking to X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Thank you Arunachal Pradesh! The people of this wonderful state have given an unequivocal mandate to politics of development. My gratitude to them for reposing their faith in @BJP4Arunachal yet again. Our Party will keep working with even greater vigour for the state’s growth.”
Thank you Arunachal Pradesh! The people of this wonderful state have given an unequivocal mandate to politics of development. My gratitude to them for reposing their faith in @BJP4Arunachal yet again. Our Party will keep working with even greater vigour for the state’s growth.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 2, 2024
The PM also said, “I would like to appreciate the hardwork of the exceptional @BJP4Arunachal
Karyakartas through the election campaign. It is commendable how they went across the state and connected with the people."
The saffron party had won 41 seats in 2019.
The National People’s Party (NPP) bagged five seats, while the People’s Party of Arunachal won two seats and the NCP secured three.
The Congress won one seat, and Independent candidates emerged victorious in three constituencies.
The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) on Sunday returned to power in the Himalayan state for the second consecutive term by a landslide victory, winning 31 seats in the 32-member assembly.
The opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which ruled the state for 25 years in a row till 2019, could manage only one seat, though its president Pawan Kumar Chamling lost in the two constituencies he contested.
SKM president and Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, however, won from two seats, and the party bagged 58.38 per cent of the votes polled. The SKM had won 17 seats in the 2019 assembly polls.
Elections to the assembly were held simultaneously with the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 19.
After the landslide win, Tamang congratulated the party workers and the voters of Sikkim.
"It is because of the love and trust of the people which we have managed to secure in the past five years in government. Besides, party cadres worked very hard. Now we have the next five years to give our 100 per cent for the people of Sikkim," he said at a gathering in Paljor Stadium in Gangtok.
Tamang won by over 7,000 votes in both Rhenock and Soreng-Chakung constituencies.
Like the BJP, the Congress also failed to open its account and secured a paltry vote share of 0.32 per cent which is even less than that of NOTA (0.99 per cent).
Tamang asked the party workers to maintain calm in the aftermath of the landslide victory.
CM Rio extends congratulations
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has congratulated the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in Sikkim for the resounding victories in the assembly elections in the two states.
Taking to X, the chief minister said, “Heartiest congratulations to @BJP4Arunachal led by Shri @PemaKhanduBJP on the comprehensive victory in the Arunachal Assembly Election.”
Heartiest congratulations to @BJP4Arunachal led by Shri @PemaKhanduBJP on the comprehensive victory in the Arunachal
— Neiphiu Rio (@Neiphiu_Rio) June 2, 2024
Assembly Election.
“Congratulations to Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) @KrantiSikkim on the landslide victory in the Sikkim Assembly Election under the leadership of Shri Prem Singh Tamang,” read another post.