4-1 for BJP, including prize state UP; AAP sweeps Punjab

New Delhi (India): The BJP raced towards a second straight win in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh and dominated the score chart in three other states while the Aam Aadmi Party announced its national presence with a landslide victory in Punjab, its triumph redrawing India's political map and diminishing the Congress even further.

As votes were counted on Thursday for elections to five states held over February and March, the possible four-one score for India's ruling party underscoring its political prowess. The BJP was also ahead in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, according to trends and results on the Election Commission website.

The Congress' epitaph was written on the electoral battlefield. The party, now in power only in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, an all-time low, lost Punjab and was ahead in only two seats in Uttar Pradesh with a vote share of just 2.3 per cent -- notwithstanding the high-decibel campaign by the Gandhi siblings Rahul and Priyanka.

But all eyes were on the key electoral battleground Uttar Pradesh where the Yogi Adityanath-led government was pitching for a second consecutive term in power.

In trends and results available for the 403 seats, the ruling party was ahead in 250 seats, short of its earlier count of 312 but comfortably over the halfway mark in polls that come a year after the devastating second Covid wave. This will be the first time in over three decades that a party will get re-elected for a second term in the state.

The Samajwadi Party, which made a vigorous bid for power with its leader Akhilesh Yadav attracting huge crowds at campaign rallies, was trailing with leads in 120 seats, a significant jump from the 47 last time. Enough to make it a vocal opposition but far removed from power even with the support of its allies, the RLD and the SBSP, which were ahead in 10 and four seats, respectively, analysts pointed out.

Adding to the saffron party's tally, BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) was ahead in 12 seats. The BSP, which barely made a campaign splash, was leading in two seats with a vote share of 12.7 per cent.

The BJP was projected to have a vote share of 41.9 per cent and the SP 31.8 per cent in the prize state, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha and saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah among others campaigning intensively.

Applauding their party's win, BJP leaders, including Kailash Vijayvargiya and Sudhanshu Trivedi, said people have expressed their faith in the policies ushered in by Modi. Many of their party colleagues simply tweeted "Jai Shri Ram" to hail the trends.

Elections 2022, seen as a pointer to general elections two years away, were also the AAP's stepping stone out of Delhi. According to trends and results, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party was poised to win 92 of the 117 seats in Punjab, a three-fourths majority.

Incumbent Congress was a distant second with leads in 18 seats, preparing to cede power to a party that had so far only ruled Delhi. The Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP lagged further behind with three and two respectively.

"First this revolution happened in Delhi, then in Punjab and it will now happen all over country," Kejriwal said at the party headquarters in Delhi.

"In the coming days, AAP will become a national force...the party will emerge as the national and natural replacement of Congress," party leader Raghav Chadha added while addressing workers at a rented accommodation of its chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann in Sangrur.

The strong AAP wave in Punjab saw many bigwigs trailing and losing -- including SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Congress' Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from both the seats he contested, Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur, former chief minister Amarinder Singh who left the Congress to join hands with the BJP and Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The trends reflected in the vote share too with the AAP at 42 per cent and the Congress at 22.9 per cent.

In the 2017 assembly polls in Punjab, the Congress had ended the SAD-BJP combine's run by bagging 77 seats out of the total 117-assembly segments in the state. The AAP had managed to get 20 seats, while the SAD-BJP had won 18 seats.

"Humbly accept the people's verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India," former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter

As the vote counting proceeded swiftly, BJP was in a dominant position in the other states too.

In the coastal state of Goa, the ruling party, set to score a hat-trick, was poised to win 20 of the 40 seats, just one short of the magic mark, while its nearest rival Congress was at 11. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party was ahead in three seats and AAP in two. The Goa Forward Party was poised to nab one seat, while independents were ahead in three seats.

The picture in Uttarakhand was decisive. In leads and trends available for all 70 seats, the BJP was ahead in 48 and the Congress in 18, a huge gulf in a state where the 'grand old party' hoped to make an electoral dent.

Among the prominent candidates trailing in the hill state were Congress veteran Harish Rawat in Lalkuan. Interestingly, BJP's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was also trailing in Khatima.

Counting in the northeastern state of Manipur was slower. In trends and results available for 46 of 60 seats, the BJP was ahead in 22 and the Congress in three. The National People's Party had leads in six seats and the Naga People's Front in five. (PTI)