Northeast Assembly Election Result 2018 highlights: Conrad Sangma will be next Meghalaya CM

11:30 Alliance with IPFT a gamechanger in Tripura: BJP's Himanta Biswa Sarma
​BJP's Himanta Biswa Sarma says the alliance with IPFT (Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura) was the gamechanger. “Alliance with IPFT could have been suicidal or give us huge advantage but Amit Shah was sure it will get good results. Many people did not want merger but the BJP president was in favour and that has helped. If Amit Shah is a student of post graduation, Rahul Gandhi is in nursery in terms of politics,” he told News18.

10:55 Just In | PM Narendra Modi to visit BJP office at 6 PM

10:15 Just when it looked certain that the CPI(M) will return to power in Tripura, the BJP has made a strong come back to lead in 31 seats as compared to Left Front's 24 seats. Remember, BJP leader Ram Madhav had earlier in the day said that the EVM counting was yet to begin.

09:50 "In Meghalaya, we will form the government. The BJP don't have a stand of their own, they resorted to stealing our leaders. Many defected to their side but the Congress will still emerge victorious," says Congress spokesperson, Zarita. — News18

09:40 It appears that the tables are turning in Tripura. The Manik Sarkar-led Left Front leads in 30 seats, comfortably ahead of the BJP which is leading in 22 seats.

09:30 Early trends can’t be taken on face value. Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya have smaller constituencies. Thus, the margin of victory can at times be under 100 seats. One round of counting can turn the tables.

09:15 Much like a T20 match, the leads are swinging in favour of political parties every minute.

In Meghalaya, the Congress is ahead in 10 seats, while the NPP is leading in 5 seats. The BJP has so far managed to lead only in one seat, other regional parties are ahead in 6 seats. Meghalaya has 59 seats up for grabs.

In Tripura, the BJP trailing Left by a margin of 3 seats. The Manik Sarkar-led CPM is ahead in 26 seats, just ahead of the BJP which is leading in 23 seats.

In Nagaland, the NPF+ combine is ahead in 23 seats, while BJP is leading in 17 seats. Congress still to open account.

0900  Update at 9 am: One hour since the counting has begun

Tripura: BJP trails Left — BJP leads in 19 seats; Left ahead in 23 seats

Meghalaya: Congress leads in 7 seats, NPP ahead in 3, BJP leads 1, Others  6

Nagaland: NPF+ leads in 8 seats, BJP+ in 9 seats

08:55 Tripura is getting exciting by the minute. The Left now leads in 23 seats against the BJP combine is ahead in 18 seats. Congress is ahead in one seat.

08:52 The BJP-plus alliance is leading in 6 seats in Nagaland. NPF+ and Congress yet to get cracking.

08:46 The race in Tripura is hotting up. The CPI (M) now leads in 14 seats, the BJP-lead leads in 11 seats. Congress is yet to open account in the 60-seat assembly.

08:45 Early trends coming in from Meghalaya now. The Congress and NPP are leading in 3 seats each and BJP in 1 constituency.

08:35 BJP, Left neck and neck in Tripura; BJP-NDDP bag 1 seat in Nagaland

08:31 The equation in Tripura seems changing quickly. CPI(M) leads in 9 seats while BJP+ combine is ahead in 10 seats.

Meanwhile, in Nagaland, BJP+ alliance leads in one seat; other political parties are yet to lead.

No leads from Meghalaya yet.

08:30 PM Modi's scathing attack on Tripura CM Manik Sarkar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has last week called upon the people of Tripura to "throw" out the Manik Sarkar-led Left Front government in the state and vote for the BJP to usher in development for which he developed a new acronym - 'hira'.
Hira means, he said, "H for highway, I for Internet way, R for roadways and A for airways".

08:15 Anti-CPI(M) sentiment over pro-BJP wave in Tripura?

BJP’s poll in-charge of Tripura, Sunil Deodhar says "It is a fact that we are riding on a strong anti-CPI(M) wave rather than a pro-BJP wave. It's more of a 'CPI(M) hatao' sentiment than a 'Modi lao' one. And it's because of an incompetent chief minister, his misrule and bad governance."

The 52-year-old served as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign manager in Varanasi during the 2014 general elections.  — News18

08:00 Counting of votes for the elections in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura has begun. The BJP will be just one state short of a northeast bereft of the Congress if exit poll predictions come true. Elections held after 2014 saw the exit of Congress in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Two exit polls have hinted at a Congress rout in the three states. With regional players’ help, the BJP is set to come to power, exit polls suggest.

07:58 We're just 2 minutes to the start of the counting of votes for the three northeastern states. Can the BJP expand its presence in the Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura?

07:15 Exit Polls — Nagaland

In Nagaland, the BJP-NDPP alliance is likely to storm the ruling NPF bastion as it is predicted to win 27-32 seats with a vote share of 48 percent, against NPF's 20-25 seats and a vote share of 42 percent, according to the JanKiBaat-NewsX exit poll.

07:10 Exit Polls — Meghalaya

In Meghalaya where the Congress is in power, the JanKiBaat-NewsX exit poll shows that the National People's Party (NPP) is set to gain with 23-27 seats while the BJP will get 8-12 seats, with vote shares of 39 and 12 percent respectively. The NPP, which is member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has not entered into a formal pre-poll alliance with the BJP.

07:05 Exit Polls — Tripura

JanKiBaat-NewsX has predicted that the BJP-IPFT alliance in Tripura will win 35-45 seats with a vote share of 51 percent. While another exit poll by AxisMyIndia predicts 44-50 seats for the BJP-IPFT with a vote share of 49 percent and others may get 0-3 seats with a vote share of 11 percent.

07:00 Exit polls suggest a BJP surge in the northeast

Exit polls suggest that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with allies is likely to form the next governments in India’s north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. Two exit polls last Tuesday predicted that the BJP would dethrone the Left from power in Tripura and consolidate its position in north-eastern states of Meghalaya and Nagaland.

06:55 The day ahead — Meghalaya

A three-tier security arrangement has been made at all the 13 counting centres and 11 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed for the counting process.

06:50 The day ahead — Nagalan

In Nagaland, 349 tables in 17 centres across the state have been set up for counting. Votes would be counted in presence of the candidates and agents under the supervision of the respective district returning officers and assistant returning officers.

06:45 The day ahead — Tripura

Adequate security measures have been made for the counting centres in Tripura. Counting halls are ready. General and police observers have been appointed for the halls.

06:35 Difficult start to Nagaland election process

The Congress, which has given three chief ministers to Nagaland since the state's inception in 1963, is contesting only in 18 seats, two less than the BJP. The election process in Nagaland had started on a difficult note.

Following a no-poll diktat from the Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hohos and Civil Organisations that advocated "solution (to the Naga political issue) before election", political parties initially kept away from the poll process.

Though the filing of nominations started on January 31, the first batch of 22 contestants filed their papers only on February 5, the penultimate day for filing of nominations.

There was a heavy rush of nominees to file their nomination papers on the last day, February 7, and finally after scrutiny and withdrawal, 227 candidates were in the fray for the Assembly elections in the state.

06:30 Assembly strength in Tripura, Meghalaya & Nagaland

Though the strength of each of the Assemblies in the three states is 60 members, voting was held for 59 constituencies in all of them, for different reasons.

While a CPI (M) candidate died in Tripura, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate was killed in Meghalaya, which resulted in countermanding of the polls in one seat each in the two states.

In Meghalaya, the Congress fielded 59 candidates, while the BJP put up nominees in 47 constituencies. For the first time, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is contesting from two seats.

In Nagaland, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) chief Neiphiu Rio was declared elected unopposed.

In Nagaland, the BJP has joined hands with the NDPP that was floated by former chief minister Neiphiu Rio. The NDPP is contesting on 40 seats and the saffron party on 20.

06:25 Counting would begin from 8 am in all the states amid tight security, Election Commission officials said.

While Tripura went to the polls on February 18, elections were held in Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27.

06:20 BJP emerges a strong contender in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura

The BJP has emerged as a strong contender in all the three states and two exit polls have predicted that the party would dethrone the 25-year-old Left Front government in Tripura and consolidate its position in the other two states. While the Congress has been ruling Meghalaya for 10 years, the Naga People's Front (NFP) has been in power in Nagaland since 2003, except for a three-month period of President's rule in 2008.

Buoyed by the formation of governments in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP is making a bid to expand its footprints in the region.

06:16 The counting of votes for the Assembly elections in three north-eastern states — Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura — will begin at 8 am amid tight security.

06:15 Good morning readers! This blog bring you up to speed with the live counting updates from the recently-concluded assembly elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.