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Exit polls for year's biggest state elections today
Assembly Election 2022 Exit Poll: The Election Commission had put a ban on exit polls till the last phase of UP elections.
Will the BJP return to power in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur? Will Congress retain Punjab for a second term after a year of high drama? Exit polls on Monday are set to reveal the mood of nation (albeit partially) after the assembly elections were held in five states in the last four weeks. (A health warning: exit polls don't always get it right).
The Election Commission had put a ban on the exit polls, which lifts Monday 6:30 pm. India Today-Axis My India, ABP News-CVoter, News24-Today's Chanakya are some in the list set to reveal the sentiment at the ground.
Uttar Pradesh voted for the last of the seven phases of the state elections on Monday and Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, is one of the key assembly seats where polling was held. The northern state - where caste dynamics play a crucial role - is also critical for all parties with just two years remaining for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and many other top leaders were a part of the high-blitz campaign in the state where some farmer groups had last year declared that they would campaign against the ruling BJP amid protests over three contentious farm laws that were later withdrawn. While Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party is a key challenger to the BJP, the Congress and Mayawati's BSP are also trying to regain the lost ground.
Punjab, which is often called the food bowl of India, is another state where farmers' issues were highlighted by political parties in the election speeches to gain confidence of the community. The state was hit by unprecedented political turbulence months before the elections when Amarinder Singh stepped down as the chief minister, quit his party of decades, and launched his own political party as the Congress picked Charanjit Singh Channi as the state's first Dalit chief minister. The state has about 30 per cent of Dalit population. Amarinder Singh is now fighting the polls with the BJP. Other key contenders against the Congress are Arvind Kejriwal's AAP - with Bhagwant Mann as its face - and the Mayawati-Akali Dal combine.
The state election result for Goa too will be interesting this time where the ruling BJP aims to retain the smallest state of the country. Even though the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in the 2017 polls, the BJP had formed a government due to a wave of defections. The Congress is counting on an 'oath of loyalty' this time. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the AAP want to make a dent.
Uttarakhand was another state rocked by change in the top leadership. Two chief ministers stepped down last year before Pushkar Singh Dhami finally took over. But the BJP is confident of a smooth return. The Congress and the AAP are the challengers.
In the northeastern state of Manipur, the Congress is leading a seven-party alliance to fight the ruling BJP. This is another state where despite being the single-largest party, the Congress lost power.
Votes for all five states will be counted on March 10.
