I woke up this morning to a friend from Mumbai sharing a social media post, which warned the Chinese Army to stay from Indian borders. His sudden confidence stemmed from the early poll results which showed the Bharatiya Janata Party forming governments in Tripura, Nagaland and possibly Meghalaya —  individually or in alliance. I had two instinctive responses to his post:

1. Of irritation once again when someone far off from the northeast region failed to get his facts right – the Chinese infiltration is a problem largely in Arunachal Pradesh, which is being governed by the BJP since 2016.

2. Of happiness that the northeast occupied the central theme across social media and all national news channels after 5 years again – election is the only time the region gets its due coverage.

Now for the results: There is no doubt that the BJP has stunned the citadel of the Left in Tripura after 25 years. The 20 year reign of the People’s man Manik Sarkar, whose clean image is undisputed even by opponents, makes way for the BJP. Biplab Kumar Deb, a young party president, has galvanised the party at the grassroots and is all set to be one of the youngest CMs of the country.

The challenge though has only begun. Managing the pre-poll alliance partner Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) could prove tricky given that the IPFT has often called for a separate state of Tipraland. The BJP’s nationalist image is in direct confrontation to the IPFT. Good news for the BJP though is that it can run the state even if the IPFT were to move out.

Nagaland is giving every student of political science real lessons in coalition politics – there are no permanent friends or enemies. As results suggest that BJP’s pre-poll alliance with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) may fall tantalisingly short of the majority, the national party’s senior ministers have explicitly stated that they are open to a tie-up with the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) in a post-poll alliance. NDPP would rightly be feeling like Ranbir Kapoor in all Karan Johar movies who romances well with the lead actor till the interval before being dumped unceremoniously!

I am overwhelmed with nostalgia as I write about Meghalaya. Decades ago when I began to understand the electoral processes of a state assembly election, my only question of interest was: did A L Hek win from Pynthorumkhrah – the constituency in which I grew up. The answer then was Yes. The question hasn’t changed today. And neither has the answer – A L Hek has won again. His affiliation though has oscillated between the Congress and BJP over the years. He last won on a Congress ticket and now on the BJP’s. The core point being that Meghalaya has often seen candidate-driven elections instead of Party or policy-driven elections. And these candidates fluidly move between parties consequently ensuring that most elections deliver a fractured mandate.

On who forms the government in Meghalaya, it is a million dollar question. The BJP has won 2 seats – 1/10 th of what the Congress has won. And yet both are locked in an intense war trying to seduce partners into an alliance.

The fun part about watching the election results on television today was each time the news channels got some local politician on call, the signal kept dropping – symbolic in its own way of how far behind the Northeast is on the barometer of development. Also, some channels broke news that senior Congress ministers are “flying down to Shillong” – well if true, that is a privilege because commoners like me have always had to fly down to Guwahati and then take a 3-hour road trip to Shillong. I am not sure how happy people are with the northeast election results, but I am sure beyond doubt that one species is celebrating hard – Cows. Oh wait! That’s a jumla!

(The writer is a stand-up comedian. Views expressed are personal)