Almost all heavyweight candidates, including the wards of prominent leaders, have fared well in the Northeast.
In Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju retained the Arunachal West seat by securing thrice the number of votes he had garnered in 2014. His nearest rival was former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.
Sushmita Dev, the daughter of former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev, failed to retain the Silchar Lok Sabha seat in southern Assam for the Congress. She lost to the BJP’s Rajdeep Roy, her family doctor.
Gogoi retains Kaliabor
Gaurav Gogoi, the son of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, retained the Kaliabor seat in central Assam for the Congress. His nearest rival was Manimadhab Mahanta of the Asom Gana Parishad.
Kiren Rijiju.
In Meghalaya, Agatha Sangma, the daughter of former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A. Sangma, retained the Tura seat for the family by defeating former Chief Minister Mukul M. Sangma. Her brother Conrad A. Sangma had resigned from Tura after becoming the Chief Minister of the State in 2017.
All India United Democratic Front president and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal defied anti-incumbency to retain the Dhubri seat in western Assam.
He defeated his nearest rival and former MLA Abu Taher Bepari of the Congress by more than 2 lakh votes.
Babus out
Former bureaucrats fielded by the Congress in Assam and Manipur had to bite the dust. In Assam, former Additional Chief Secretary M.G.V.K. Bhanu lost the Tezpur Lok Sabha seat to the BJP’s Pallab Lochan Das by more than 2 lakh votes.
In Manipur, former Chief Secretary O. Nabakishore Singh lost narrowly to BJP’s Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in the Inner Manipur seat.
