Northeast: BJP set to win 13 LS seats, Congress sweeps violence-hit Manipur

New Delhi: The Congress has put a spanner in the plans of the BJP to make a clean sweep in the northeastern states which have 25 Lok Sabha seats, as the grand old party is set to bag seven seats including two in violence-hit Manipur.

The BJP is likely to win 13 seats in these states.

In Manipur where the Congress could not open its account in 2019 general elections, its candidates Angomcha Bimol Akoijam and Alfred Kanngam S Arthur have won both Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur seats.

The BJP had won Inner Manipur seat in 2019 while its ally Naga Peoples Front (NPF) had claimed the Outer Manipur seat. The BJP-ruled state has been in grip of ethnic violence which has claimed over 220 lives since May 2023 with the Congress repeatedly questioning the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who did not visit the state since.

In Assam, both the BJP and the Congress are set to hold their fort with nine and three seats respectively as Maulana Badruddin Ajmal-led AIDUF was completely decimated. NDA allies are leading in two seats -- Barpeta and Kokrajhar.

Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, who was forced to change his seat from erstwhile Kaliabor to Jorhat following delimitation, is set to defeat BJP which had won the seat for two consecutive terms. Gogoi is leading over BJP’s Topon Gogoi by over 1.40 lakh votes.

Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal was leading over his nearest rival Lurinjyoti Gogoi, the united Opposition candidate, by over 2,75,895 votes in Dibrugarh.

In Dhubri, Ajmal was trailing Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain by over 8,62,905 votes, while NDA ally AGP’s Phani Bhushan Choudhury was leading over his nearest rival Deep Bayan of the Congress by 2.10 lakh votes in Barpeta.

In Nagaland, Congress candidate S Supongmeren Jamir extended his lead over his nearest rival Chumben Murry of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) by over 48,000 votes in the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland, according to the Election Commission website. The seat was held by BJP-led NDA partner NDPP in 2019.