The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday won a comfortable majority in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly election, while the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha secured a landslide victory in Sikkim.

On March 17, the Election Commission announced that counting of votes in the two Assembly polls would take place on June 2 instead of June 4, when the results in other states will be announced. There is no change in the date of counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls in the two states.

Arunachal Pradesh

In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP won 46 seats, while the National People’s Party won 5 constituencies. Three seats went to the Nationalist Congress Party, three to independents, two to the People’s Party of Arunachal and one to the Congress.

Arunachal Pradesh has 60 Assembly constituencies. A party or coalition needs 31 seats to secure a majority in the state legislature.

Ten BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu were already elected unopposed to the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly on March 30 before polling. In five of these constituencies, Opposition parties did not field their candidates. In the other five seats, candidates of Opposition parties withdrew their nominations by March 30, which was the last day of withdrawal of candidature.

Polling for Arunachal Pradesh’s remaining 50 Assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha seats was held on April 19.

With the results on Sunday, the Hindutva party is set to retain power in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2019, the BJP had emerged victorious in the state by winning 41 out of 60 seats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to the people of Arunachal Pradesh for re-electing the BJP to power. He said that voters gave “an unequivocal mandate to politics of development”.

Sikkim

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won 31 out of 32 seats in the state, while the Sikkim Democratic Front won the remaining constituency.

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won 58.38% of the votes, while the Sikkim Democratic Front won 27.37% of the popular mandate.

In the 2019 Assembly election, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha had won 17 out of 32 seats, ending the 24-year rule of the Sikkim Democratic Front.

On Sunday, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha chief Prem Singh Tamang said his party was committed to “continuing our efforts towards the development and prosperity of Sikkim”.

Modi congratulated Tamang and said he looked forward to working with the state government.

Change in counting date

On March 17, the poll panel said that the date of counting of votes in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim had been changed because the term of their legislative Assemblies will expire on June 2. The election process needs to be completed before the term of the Assembly expires.

Besides Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. The results of the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will be announced on June 4 along with those of the parliamentary elections.

In 2019, the BJP had won 41 of the 60 seats in Arunachal Pradesh’s Assembly.

In Sikkim, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha had won 17 of the 32 seats in the state’s Assembly in 2019. The remaining 15 seats were won by the Sikkim Democratic Front.

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