LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Dehradun, March 7: The India Today-Axis My India exit poll has predicted 44 per cent of the total vote share for BJP in Uttarakhand, with 36-46 seats. The Congress could get 40 per cent, bagging anywhere between 20-30 seats, followed by the BSP with 2-4 seats.
The Assembly elections in five states came to an end today after the seventh and final phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh. The election results for Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Manipur will be declared on March 10.
Over 81 lakh voters decided the fate of 632 candidates in Uttarakhand on February 15. It was the fifth assembly election after the state’s creation in 2000.
The election was held on 70 assembly seats across 13 districts in the state.
During the election campaigning, the political parties conducted virtual as well as physical rallies, besides door-to-door campaigns.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his cabinet colleagues Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey, Dhan Singh Rawat and Rekha Arya, besides state BJP president Madan Kaushik are among some important candidates whose fate will be decided on March 10.
Prominent faces from the Congress in the fray include former chief minister Harish Rawat, former minister Yashpal Arya, state Congress president Ganesh Godiyal and Leader of Opposition in the fourth assembly Pritam Singh.
Star campaigners of BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party held a slew of rallies to seek votes for their candidates during electioneering, which was held for the most part amid the Covid restrictions.
The names include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati.
While seeking a second consecutive term in office, the BJP leaders warned voters against the Congress’s “policy of appeasement” and asked for votes for the party. They highlighted the big road, rail and air connectivity projects underway in the state and the ones in the pipeline, besides the reconstruction of Kedarnath over the past five years.
Meanwhile, the Congress party, which is trying to gain lost ground after its rout at the hands of the BJP in the 2017 Assembly polls, raised the issues of inflation, unemployment and change of chief ministers in quick succession with the party in power to put spokes in its wheels.
The BJP had won 57 out of a total of 70 seats in Uttarakhand in the last Assembly polls while Congress won just 11. Two seats went to Independents.
This time, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also fielded its candidates from all the 70 assembly constituencies in the state.
During the campaigning and rallies, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused successive Congress and BJP governments in the state of not fulfilling the aspirations of people that had led to the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000.
The AAP, in its promises to the people of Uttarakhand, has also offered a slew of freebies, including free electricity up to 300 units to every household, Rs 1,000 per month to every woman above 18 years, jobs to every household and an unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000 per month to them until they get the job to lure voters.
There were a total of 81,72,173 voters in the state and 11,697 polling booths spread over 8,624 locations, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Saujanya, who does not use a surname.