Assam Chief Minister and Convenor of North East Democratic Alliance, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma alleged that a “particular religion” openly went against the BJP led National Democratic Alliance in the states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur where the NDA has lost in all seats.

Speaking to media persons in Guwahati, Sarma claimed that leaders of this particular region, referring to Christianity, worked against the NDA and that made the difference. He mentioned that even in Assam, “we could not get votes from this religion.”

“Usually, they don’t interfere but this time, for whatever reasons, they interfered in politics,” Sarma remarked.

He maintained that the loss was not a political defeat and stated that overall, the BJP has improved its tally in the Northeast.

The BJP leader further said that to know the specific reason why the National People’s Party (NPP) and Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) lost in this Lok Sabha election, one has to ask the chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya, Neiphiu Rio and Conrad Sangma.

In Nagaland, Congress won the lone seat despite of not having a single MLA in the State Assembly, in Meghalaya, the Tura seat was won by Congress candidate and the Shillong seat by the Voice of the People Party (VPP). In Manipur, both seats went to Congress.

However, BJP won both seats in Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura while the NDA has won 11 of 14 seats in Assam while its ally, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won in Sikkim.

VPP in Meghalaya and Zoram People’s Movement in Mizoram have not declared alliance with any bloc.