(Online Desk)

BJP chief Amit Shah said on Saturday his party’s victories in the Left’s citadel Tripura and Nagaland were an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership by the people of the Northeast.

He also said the BJP’s golden era would be when its wrests West Bengal, Odisha and Karnataka from rival parties.

“It is a day of joy for me and crores of BJP workers. The victory of the BJP is important in many ways... It is an endorsement of the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the people of the Northeast,” he told a press conference.

“The results in favour of BJP in Tripura and other states are a reflection of likely verdict in Karnataka and the Lok Sabha polls (in 2019),” he added.

The BJP and its ally IPFT were close to securing a majority in Tripura having together won 28 seats in the 60-member House. They were leading in 15 more. Elections were held in the state for 59 seats due to the death of a CPI-M candidate.

“I thank brothers and sisters of Tripura for their massive support to the BJP. This is the victory for Modi’s politics of development and his commitment to the welfare of northeastern region of India,” Shah earlier said on Twitter.

In Nagaland, the BJP and its ally NDPP have won 13 seats and are leading in 14. The ruling Naga People’s Front, with which the BJP parted ways just before the elections, has won 13 seats and was leading in 12 others in the 60-member Assembly. In Nagaland too, elections were held for only 59 seats as NDPP leaders Neiphiu Rio was declared elected unopposed.

Earlier in the day, the party chief thanked the north eastern states for their support.

Meghalaya appeared set to have a hung Assembly.

Shah ruled out the possibility of the BJP, whose NDA partner National People’s Party has won 19 seats, engaging in horse-trading in Meghalaya. The two NDA allies had, however, contested the elections separately. BJP has won two seats in the state where the Congress has won 19 seats so far and was ahead in two.

“Where is the question of ‘tod-phod’ (horse-trading). The Congress does not have a majority there,” he said.