Significant wins for incumbents

Ruling parties have been voted back to power in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, where assembly elections were held in April. The counting of votes was done on Sunday to ensure that the new assemblies were in place before the term of the previous assemblies expired. In both states, the ruling parties got enhanced mandates. In Sikkim, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), led by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, has achieved a landslide victory. The main Opposition, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) of Pawan Chamling, who had set a record as Chief Minister for a quarter century before the SKM ousted his party in 2019, got only one seat. Chamling lost the election from both the seats he had contested. In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP has secured an absolute majority, coming back to power for a third consecutive time by winning 46 out of the 60 seats in the state assembly. 

In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP has won 10 seats unopposed. Chief Minister Pema Khandu was one of the 10 party candidates who won without a contest. Arunachal Pradesh has seen such unopposed elections in the past. In this round of Lok Sabha elections, Surat and Indore also saw Opposition candidates withdrawing from contest, or made to withdraw, to facilitate unanimous elections. This is the first time in Arunachal Pradesh that so many seats have witnessed unopposed elections. This is against the spirit of democracy and it is unfortunate that the ruling party is encouraging the trend. It is however a good sign that there is a diversity of parties in the state. The National People's Party (NPP) won five seats, while the People's Party of Arunachal got two seats, and the NCP three. The Congress could manage only one seat, and Independent candidates emerged victorious in three constituencies. In Arunachal Pradesh, as in the other North-Eastern states, the ruling party at the Centre has an advantage. Governments in these states align with that at the Centre and the people often elect the same party at the state level. Khandu was heading a Congress government when he and 43 MLAs quit the party and became the BJP in the state in 2016.  

In Sikkim, the BJP decided to contest without any alliance and came a cropper. It did not win any seat. Tamang’s SKM has won 31 of the 32 seats. The important challenge in both states is to ensure development with due regard for ecology. Both are ecologically-fragile states. They are also strategically important as they are border states. The central government has given attention to infrastructure development in the states because of their strategic importance. The large majorities will give the state governments the stability needed for development and security.