The results of the assembly elections held in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh will be declared on March 10, 2022. In the most populous state of UP, incumbent BJP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been predicted to come back to power by many post-poll surveys.
The BJP is expected to comfortably cross the majority mark of 203 seats in the 404-seat UP Vidhan Sabha.
In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party led by Bhagwant Mann has been predicted to come to power claiming a comfortable majority in the 117 seat Vidhan Sabha.
Many pollsters have predicted a hung assembly in Uttarakhand with the incumbent BJP and Congress polling similar numbers in the 70-seat assembly.
Goa also promises to be a close race with the incumbent BJP and Congress giving each other a tough fight in the 40-seat assembly.
The BJP's N. Biren Singh is favoured to come back to power in Manipur but many pollsters predict that the BJP will fall just short of an absolute majority in the state.
Controversy erupted before counting day in UP with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of stealing VVPAT machines in the state.
The allegation was made after videos showing counting machines in trucks in Varanasi, two days before counting.
"We were getting information that a principal Secretary to the Chief Minister was calling District Magistrates, saying 'counting should be slow wherever the BJP is losing'. "Now that the EVMs have been caught, the officials will make multiple excuses," Yadav told the media.
Varanasis Commissioner Deepak Agarwal said that the vote machines in question were only for training purposes.
"If you talk about the protocol for the movement of EVMs, there was a lapse in the protocol, I accept that. But I can guarantee you, it is impossible to take away machines used in voting," Agarwal said, adding that there were CCTV cameras, security guards and political party representatives at counting centres.
