BJP retains Arunachal Pradesh, SKM re-elected with resounding mandate in Sikkim.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP win 46 seats in the 60-member assembly. The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha lost only one seat in Sikkim’s 32-member assembly. Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, two of the four states (Andhra Pradesh and Odisha being the other two) that held simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections, re-elected their respective incumbent governments. The counting of votes was held on Sunday, two days before the exercise takes place across the country for the Lok Sabha elections. In Arunachal Pradesh, which voted on April 19 for both assembly and Lok Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 46 seats in the 60-member assembly, increasing its tally by five seats from 2019, the Election Commission’s website showed. In fact, as many as 10 party candidates, including chief minister Pema Khandu and deputy CM Chowna Mein, had won unopposed in March itself. Among the opposition parties, the National People’s Party (NPP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), and the Congress, secured five, three, two, and one seats respectively, while three independent candidates were victorious too. Congratulating his party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking a third consecutive term to the nation’s top office, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Thank you Arunachal Pradesh! The people of this wonderful state have given an unequivocal mandate to politics of development. My gratitude to them for reposing their faith in @BJP4Arunachal yet again. Our Party will keep working with even greater vigour for the state’s growth.” The Sikkim Karantikari Morcha (SKM), which had eked out a narrow victory in 2019 with 17 seats in the 32-member assembly, scored a resounding win this time, with 31 of its candidates winning from their respective constituencies, as per the Election Commission.