Tripura Elections: exit polls suggest newly-formed Tipra Motha could emerge as kingmaker

The crucial but tiny state of Tripura which the BJP had grabbed from the CPI(M) in a surprise win in 2018 had exit results from three pollsters which varied substantially.

IndiaToday-MyAxis indicated that the BJP would get between 36-45 seats in the 60-member assembly by garnering 45 per cent of the popular vote, most of it in the plains where Bengalis live, giving it a spectacular win.

It also predicted the Left-Congress combine would get a paltry 6-11 seats with just 32 per cent of the popular vote, a huge slide from its 43 per cent voteshare in 2018. The newbie party Tipra Motha, founded by former royal Pradyot Kishore Mankiya Debbarma, is shown as gathering 9-16 seats from the tribal areas with a concentrated 20 per cent of the vote share.

The Left-Congress combine, however, doubted the exit polls and Congress leader Sudip Roy Burman said, “The BJP will end up in single digits … people have voted against the lawlessness prevailing in the state. It was a revenge vote against the party in power.” However, the ETG- Times Now poll indicated that BJP would remain the largest party but with a substantial drawdown from its earlier tally of 36 to just 24 seats, while Left-Congress would get 21 seats with Tipra Motha snatching 14 seats in the tribal areas.

The ZeeNews-Matrize exit poll, on similar lines, predicted BJP and its ally would win 29-36 seats in Tripura, while the Left-Congress would get between 13-21 seats, and Tipra Motha Party would get between 11-16.

Subrata Chakraborty, the chief spokesperson of the BJP in Tripura, claimed, "We will come back with a thumping two-thirds majority, given all the hard work that we have done in the last five years." Former militant-turned-Tipra Motha President Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal had earlier told PTI before the elections that in case of as hung house his party would consider supporting any party which conceded or furthered its demand for a separate Tipraland state.

"In a post-poll scenario, we are willing to support from outside (in case of a hung house), but you have to agree on paper and on the floor of the House that a new state will be created,” he had said.

Also Watch: Nagaland Elections: exit polls predict sweep for BJP and ally NDPP

Disclaimer: exit polls are not always accurate