UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab Elections 2017 Results: BJP, Congress and others wait with baited breath to find out their fate

Counting of votes for the high- stakes assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will take place tomorrow morning with trends expected to be available by 11 AM. By 12 noon, a final picture could emerge on who would be the major players in the five states. Election Commission officials said the counting of votes commences at 8 AM and will be completed by late evening. Counting will take place at 157 centres -- Punjab (53), Goa (2), UP (75), Uttarakhand (15) and Manipur (12). According to Election Commission guidelines, half-an-hour after the postal ballots are counted, the process of counting of EVM votes begins.

The 'ballot unit' is switched on in the presence of senior poll officials and counting agents of candidates and the result command keyed in to get the results per machine.

Where a paper trail audit or 'voter-verified paper audit trail' (VVPAT) has been used, the counting agent can call for a count of the paper slips in the drop box attached to the voting machine, but a final count is taken by the returning officer.

Goa Elections 2017

The focus in Goa will be on whether the BJP will be able to retain power and if it gets a fresh mandate, will Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar return to his home state as chief minister. The main fight for the 40-member assembly, which went to polls on February 4 and recorded an impressive turnout of 83 per cent, is between the BJP and the Congress. The Aam Admi Party also made a serious bid this time round, contesting a majority of seats. The BJP fielded candidates in 36 constituencies and supported Independents in the remaining seats.

The BJP's poll campaign was led by Parrikar, which fuelled speculation that he may be chosen as chief minister if the the party returns to power in the state. Incumbent Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is also in the fray. Though the BJP leadership has not come out with an official statement on the leadership issue, some senior party leaders said during campaigning that the chief ministerial nominee would be chosen by the elected legislators. The Congress, the main opposition in the state, has fielded its nominees in 37 seats and backed the candidates of the United Goan, Goa Forward and an Independent in the rest.

The outcome will also decide the fate of the alliance between Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) and the Shiv Sena. The MGP, one of the oldest regional outfits, broke alliance with the BJP before the elections, while the GSM was floated by RSS rebel Subhash Velingkar. The combine, according to political analysts, could harm the BJP more than the Congress and the NCP. A new entrant to the electoral scene in the coastal state, the AAP has contested in 39 seats and the leaders who campaigned for the party included Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Keenly watched constituencies in the state include Mandrem in North Goa from where Parsekar is seeking re-election and Panaji, which was represented by Parrikar before he moved to the Centre.

In 2012, the BJP had come to power in Goa with 21 seats, The Congress had got 9 seats, MGP 3, Goa Vikas Party 2 and Independents 5.

Punjab Elections 2017

The stage is set for counting of votes for 117 assembly seats in Punjab with pollsters predicting the exit of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and a neck-and-neck fight between the debutant AAP and the Congress. Counting of votes will commence at 8 AM at 54 centers in 27 locations, an election office spokesman said here. More than 14,000 officials have been deployed at the counting centers, where tight security arrangements have been made to ensure that the exercise is completed peacefully.

Unauthorised persons would not be allowed to enter the counting centers. Nobody, barring the election observers, would be allowed to carry mobile phones there, the spokesman said. Live results will be shown on TV screens at district election offices, prominent public places and malls. Poll results will also be updated at regular intervals on the Election Commission's website. Despite the exit polls predicting a total rout for the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, which is targeting a third term in the state, 89-year-old Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal claimed the combine will win 72 seats.

State Congress chief Amarinder Singh claimed his party would emerge victorious on 65 seats, while the AAP was confident of bagging close to 100 seats.

The state went to polls in single phase on February 4 and recorded 78.60 per cent polling as against 78.57 per cent voter turnout in 2012.

As many as 1,145 candidates are in the fray, 81 of whom are female and one transgender. The SAD contested 94 seats and its ally BJP 23. The Congress contested all the seats. The AAP and its ally Lok Insaf Party, led by the Bains brothers of Ludhiana, are fighting on 112 and 5 seats respectively. The Congress and the SAD have been alternatively forming the government after the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966.

In 2007, the SAD-BJP alliance came to power. As per the trend of politics in Punjab, it was the turn of the Congress in 2012 but it happened otherwise and SAD-BJP got the second term. Key constituencies whose results would be keenly watched include the Lambi seat, where the CM is locked in a triangular contest with Amarinder Singh and journalist-turned-politician Jarnail Singh (AAP).

Patiala is another key seat where Amarinder Singh is fighting against SAD candidate and retired army Chief General JJ Singh. Jalalabad, considered a pocket borough of the ruling Badal family, has two sitting MPs -- Ravneet Singh Bittu (Congress) and comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann (AAP) -- taking on SAD president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Veteran Congress leader and former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal is fighting it out against Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa (SAD) from her traditional bastion of Lehragagga.

AAP's Himmat Singh Shergill is fighting against Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia from Majitha while Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi (AAP) is giving a challenge to Congress stalwart Ashwini Sekhri from Batala.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, who after several flip-flops had joined the Congress, contested the Amritsar East seat against Rajesh Kumar Honey of the BJP.

The CM's estranged nephew Manpreet Singh Badal is trying his fortunes from Bathinda Urban seat on a Congress ticket while Indian Youth Congress chief Raja Amarinder Singh Warring is contesting Gidderbaha seat. The results are crucial for Congress, which is seeking to wrest power after failing in previous two Assembly elections fought under the leadership of Amarinder Singh.

UP Elections 2017 

The results of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will decide the fate of regional satraps Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati as they seek to prevent the BJP from gaining power in the politically-crucial state. These elections are widely being seen as a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation decision and they would also be a test for Yadav who recently took charge as the national president of the Samajwadi Party.

The elections will decide the fate of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party which had failed to open its account in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Since Akhilesh took over the reins of the SP in January, this is the first assembly election where he is calling all the shots ranging from choice of candidates to deciding the party's poll strategy.

He had met with stiff opposition from different quarters of the party but he stuck to his stand. The result of the elections would prove his leadership abilities, decision- making skills and political acumen.

He forged a pre-poll alliance with the Congress whose success or failure may establish or destablise him depending upon the poll outcome.

The BJP, which has been out of power in UP for 14 years, is anxiously waiting for the 'lotus' to bloom in the politically crucial state.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and its ally, Apna Dal, swept the polls bagging 73 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, riding the Modi wave. The popularity of the BSP would also be put to test this time. In the last two assembly elections, the voters of the state had given clear mandates. In 2012, the SP won 224 seats followed by the BSP (80) and the BJP (47).

The Congress and the RLD, which had contested the Assembly elections together, bagged 28 and 9 seats respectively. In 2007, the BSP had emerged as the largest party with 206 seats followed by the SP which won 97 seats. The BJP had won 51 seats, while the RLD bagged 10 seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the RLD could not win a single seat. Ajit Singh lost to BJP's Satypal Singh in his bastion of Baghpat, while his son Jayant Chaudhary also lost in Mathura to BJP's Hema Malini.

Uttarakhand Elections 2017

Uttarakhand waits with bated breath as countdown begins for announcement of results of Assembly elections tomorrow when EVMs will unseal the fate of a total of 637 candidates. 15 counting centres have been made with adequate deployment of security personnel around them as per specifications of the Election Commission of India, Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi said. There are a total of 70 assembly seats in the state which are all being contested by the ruling Congress and opposition BJP.

The EVMs will unseal the fate of 637 candidates bearing allegiance to different political parties and independents. Considering the large number of Congress turncoats trying their luck this time as BJP candidates it will be interesting to watch out for what happens in about a dozen seats from where they are in the fray. Narendranagar, Roorkee, Khanpur, Bajpur, Kedarnath, Sitarganj, Kotdwar are some of the high profile seats from where Congress turncoats or their protgs are in the fray. Chief Minister Harish Rawat is trying his luck from two seats of Kichcha in Udhamsingh Nagar district and Haridwar (rural) in Haridwar district.

Manipur Elections 2017

Counting of votes in the Manipur Assembly election will be taken up at eight AM tomorrow for which 11 counting centres have been set up. Chief Electoral Officer V K Dewangan told reporters here that results of Chandel, Jiribam, Senapati and Kangpokpi would take "minimal time". He said that the result in the Thoubal constituency, where rights activist Irom Sharmila is pitted against Chief Minister O Ibobi Sing, is likely to take more time.
He said central para-military forces were guarding the EVMs as prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were imposed by the District magistrates near the perimeter of all counting halls. He said that despite logistical difficulties due to the ongoing economic blockade and prevailing law and order situation, elections have been completed smoothly.