New Delhi: Less than 24 hours from now, the fate of five states - Goa, Manipur, UP, Punjab, and Uttarakhand - will be sealed for the next five years, as counting of votes is set to take place on March 10. The high-stakes assembly elections to some states, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Punjab were conducted in single-phase elections, while Manipur went for two phases and Uttar Pradesh's election had seven phases. Here's everything you need to know about constituencies, candidates, and much more from all five states.
Punjab
Single-phase assembly elections in Punjab took place on February 20 after a grueling period of campaigning by the political parties in the border state. The counting day, March 10 is set to decide the fate of 1,304 candidates, including 93 women in 117 constituencies. Electorate comprising 2,14,99,804 voters, including 1,02,00,996 women, voted in 24,740 polling stations, of which 2,013 were identified as critical. Voter turnout in Punjab was 72%, the lowest in the state in the last 15 years.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress had ended the SAD-BJP combine’s 10-year-regime by bagging 77 seats. The AAP had managed to get 20 seats while the SAD-BJP won 18 and two seats went into the kitty of the Lok Insaaf Party.
The campaigning for 2022's elections was led by the BJP's top brass Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, while Congress was led by Rahul Gandhi and Aam Admi Party (AAP) by its national convener Arvind Kejriwal. The state is witnessing a multi-cornered contest among Congress, AAP, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BSP alliance, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance, and the Samyukt Samaj Morcha, a political front of several farmer bodies which took part in the year-long agitation against the now-repealed farm Laws.
Key candidates to look out for in Punjab assembly elections results are Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi (Chamkur Sahib constituency), Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu (Amritsar East constituency), and former Chief Minister and Punjab Lok Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh (Patiala constituency). Also, there is SAD's Bikram Singh Majithia who has taken on Sidhu from the Amritsar East seat, while Sukhbir Singh Badal stood from the Lambi constituency. AAP Chief Ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann is contesting the polls from the Dhuri Assembly seat.
UTTAR PRADESH:
Uttar Pradesh is electing its 403-member Assembly in the seven-phase elections and the results will indicate whether the BJP returns to power for the second consecutive term. About 15,02,84,005 voters will decide the fate of 4442 candidates as the results are announced on Thursday.
Almost all the exit polls have predicted that the BJP will return to power. They have forecast an increase in Samajwadi Party's tally but not enough to form the government. The exit polls have forecast double-digit numbers for the BSP and single-digit counts for Congress. Both the SP and BSP have dismissed the exit polls, claiming that they would win the poll comfortably and form their government in the state, which has a 403-member assembly.
If the BJP comes to power, it would be a record for a party getting re-elected in UP for a second term in over three decades. In 2017, BJP had won 312 seats on its own while NDA's figure was 325. The SP had won 47, BSP 19, and the Congress had won seven seats, two less than Apna Dal (S) at nine.
The BJP went in the polls this time with Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD party while Akhilesh Yadav had formed a rainbow coalition with RLD and a string of regional parties, including Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP).
CM Yogi Adityanath (Gorakhpur Urban), Akhilesh Yadav (Karhal), Keshav Prasad Maurya (Sirathu), Swami Prasad Maurya (Fazilnagar), Vinay Shankar Tiwari (Chillupar), Anil Rajbhar (Shivpur), Abdullah Azam Khan (Suar) are some of the key candidates to look out for in Uttar Pradesh.
Uttarakhand:
High-voltage single-phase Uttarakhand Assembly elections took place on February 14, where 70 assembly constituencies spread over 13 districts went to the polls. 81 lakh voters exercised their electoral franchise to decide the fate of 632 candidates, including 152 independents. Voter turnout in the single-phased election was 65.4%.
There are a total of 81,72,173 voters in the state and 11,697 polling booths spread over 8,624 locations, according to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Saujanya. For the first time, 101 all-women polling booths named 'Sakhi' polling booths were set up in the state.
The entire election process was completed under the supervision of paramilitary forces. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP won 57 seats out of 70 and the party is hoping to reverse the trend in the State that the government changes every five years in Uttarakhand by winning two successive polls. It will be the fifth assembly election to be held in Uttarakhand after its creation in 2000.
Uttarakhand assembly election results will throw interesting results as the hill state has seen three chief ministers since March 2021 and overall 11 chief ministers in the two decades since the formation of the state. On March 10, 2021, BJP replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat with Tirath Singh Rawat as the CM. Three months later, Rawat was replaced by Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Overall, Congress has stuck to local and public issues, while BJP banks on its usual themes of Hindutva and nationalism. current CM Pushkar Singh Dhami is at the forefront of BJP's chief minister face for the state. After taking over as the third CM of the present government in July 2021, Dhami has been on a continuous tour of the state. All the leaders including PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP National President Jaiprakash Nadda have patted his back. However, there are other contenders as well, including former CM Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, former CM Trivendra Rawat, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni, and cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj.
As for Congress, former CM Harish Rawat and leader of Opposition Pritam Singh are in the race. Ever since Uttarakhand became a state, both Congress and BJP have blinked to a 'Thakur' or a 'Brahmin' as their choice for the post of Chief Minister. Irrespective of the elections in the state, no matter how much the equations have changed, power has always remained in the hands of a Thakur or a Brahmin. The reason for this is also quite simple. In this hilly state, there are 35 percent Thakurs and 25 percent Brahmin voters. In every election, parties, as such, try to benefit from this equation.
The political fate of several BJP heavyweights, including Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and state unit president Madan Kaushik will be decided in the Uttarakhand Assembly polls today. The luck of other ministers in the Dhami cabinet will also be decided today. Chief Minister Dhami is trying his fortune for another term and this time from Khatima. Four-time MLA and state BJP president Kaushik is contesting from Haridwar. Minister Dhan Singh Rawat is contesting from Srinagar against state Congress president Ganesh Godiyal.
GOA
Goa went to the polls for the 40 Assembly seats in a single phase election, where the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is being challenged by Congress, Trinamool Congress, and Aam Admi Party (AAP) in a multi-cornered electoral contest in this beach state. The results will decide the fate of 301 candidates who are in the fray for 40 Assembly seats. Voter turnout in the state was 78.94%.
Over 11.65 lakh voters exercised their franchise in Goa across 1,722 polling stations. Apart from the traditional contenders - BJP and Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Goa Forward Party (GFP), Trinamool Congress Party (TMC), Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena, Revolutionary Goans Party, Goencho Swabhimaan Party, Jai Mahabharat Party and Sambhaji Brigade are in the fray. Most opinion polls have indicated that no single party is likely to get a clear majority since the last four Goa elections from 2002 it was only once that any party crossed the magic figure of 21 in the 40-seat assembly.
Any party forming the government had to take the help of smaller parties and independents. In the 2017 elections, Congress had won 17 seats, while the BJP had bagged 13 but the BJP had quickly stitched up an alliance with some regional outfits and independents to form government in the state. Meanwhile, this time, the BJP is battling a 10-year anti-incumbency and is also the first assembly poll that the BJP is contesting without former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who died in 2019.
The ruling BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party remain principal contenders for the Assembly elections in Goa along with Shiv Sena. However, Utpal Parrikar, son of former Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar, is also contesting as an independent candidate from his father's traditional Panaji Assembly seat. He had resigned from the BJP after he was denied a ticket from the Panaji Assembly constituency. The BJP has fielded Congress party turncoat Atanasio "Babush" Monserrate from the Panaji seat. He had joined the BJP along with nine other MLAs in 2019 from Congress.
The Panaji Assembly seat has its own importance in the electoral politics of the state. Former Union Minister for Defence Manohar Parrikar, who had represented Panaji, had been a three-term Chief Minister of the state. Goa witnessed intense electioneering by the top leaders of various political parties.
Manipur
Manipur went to elections for its 60 constituencies in two phases. 38 constituencies went for election in the first phase and 22 went for polling in the second phase. A total of 8.38 lakh voters exercised their franchise across 1,247 polling stations to determine the fate of 265 candidates. Voter turnout in the northeastern state was 76.62%.
The prominent candidates in the fray include Chief Minister and BJP candidate N Biren Singh, Assembly Speaker Y Khemchand Singh, Deputy Chief Minister and NPP candidate Yumnam Joykumar and Manipur Congress president N Lokesh Singh. Two major Congress leaders - former three-term chief minister O Ibobi Singh and ex-deputy CM Gaikhangam Gangmei who was contesting against BJP leader and former IAS officer Dinganglung Gangemi in the Nungba assembly constituency.
The counting of votes for the Manipur assembly elections assumes significance not only for the state but also for the entire northeast region. Poll pundits in the region believe that the result of the Manipur elections on Thursday will not only impact the elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura scheduled for early next year but also shape the saffron party's prospect in the region, which has seen an upward trend since 2016.
The BJP first came to power in Assam in 2016 with the help of regional parties and retained power for the second consecutive term in 2021. The saffron party also came to power in Manipur, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh in 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively, again with the help of regional parties.
Five years down the line, BJP's alliance with regional parties in some states, including Manipur, has strained. In the just-held Manipur elections, BJP parted ways with the National Peoples' Party (NPP) and Naga Peoples' Front (NPF) and fielded party candidates independently. The NPP and NPF not only fielded candidates against the BJP but also helped many rebel BJP sitting MLAs to gain ground.
Counting of votes and results
More than 50,000 officials have been deployed for the counting of votes at nearly 1,200 halls in the five states and COVID-9 guidelines will be followed during the exercise that will begin at 8 AM amid tight security, according to officials. Uttar Pradesh, which has a maximum of 403 assembly constituencies, will have more than 750 counting halls, followed by Punjab over 200. Over 650 counting observers have been deployed in the five states to monitor the process. Video and static cameras have been installed at all the counting centres in UP, an official said in Lucknow.
