New Delhi: Incumbent Congress governments in three states are getting the jitters while the Opposition parties are keeping their fingers crossed as the counting of votes in the Assembly elections to Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur is set to begin from 0800 hours on Tuesday.
Exit polls have predicted a dead heat in Punjab with some forecasts hinting at a slight edge for the Akali-NDA combine, while in Uttarakhand, the BJP is projected to win a majority on a hung Assembly. There has not been any Exit poll in Manipur.
All arrangements have been made for the smooth counting of votes recorded in the Electronic Voting Machines from 0800 hours on Tuesday. The results are expected within a few hours. The counting for bypolls to Amritsar (Punjab) and Tehri (Uttarakhand) Lok Sabha seats will also take place on Tuesday.
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is fighting the elections as a BJP-Akali candidate from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, which he himself had vacated in December after his conviction in a 10-year-old road rage case.
Battle of Sardars in Punjab
In Punjab, where the ruling Congress and Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine is locked in a bitterly fought battle, the fate of 1,043 candidates in 116 constituencies will be decided in the vote count. About 76 per cent of the 1.66 crore voters exercised their franchise on February 13.
The prominent contestants in the state are Chief Minister Amrinder Singh and his arch-rival SAD President Parkash Singh Badal, state Congress President Shamsher Singh Dullo and former SGPC Chief Bibi Jagir Kaur. The voting in Beas constituency of Amritsar district has been deferred till March 11 due to violence there.
The main battle, though, has been in Amritsar where Sidhu and state Finance Minister Surinder Singla of Congress are locked in a tough battle for the Lok Sabha seat.
785 in fray in Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, the vote count will decide the fate of 785 candidates, who have vied at the hustings for 69 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand House. The elections to the Bajpur constituency, which was countermanded due to the death of Congress candidate Janakraj Sharma in a road accident will now be held on March 25.
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Two Exit polls gave BJP a clear victory in the elections held on February 21 while a third one predicted a hung Assembly. Both the BJP and Congress are claiming victories, but sources in the two parties said they have not ruled out the possibility of a hung House.
If the Congress comes to power, there is going to be a tough race for the post of Chief Minister among PCC president Harish Rawat, outgoing information minister Indira Hridayesh, outgoing Speaker Yashpal, outgoing tourism minister T P S Rawat and senior party leader Satpal Maharaj as outgoing chief minister N D Tiwari is keen to step down from active politics.
He did not contest the Assembly elections.
On the BJP side, former Union minister B C Khanduri has emerged as the top contender for the chief minister's post though state chief Bhagat Singh Koshiyari is also in the race.
Open field in Manipur
All arrangements have been made for the smooth counting of votes on Tuesday in the insurgency-infested Manipur. The fate of 308 candidates, contesting for the 60 Assembly seats, will be decided in the vote count. The results are likely to emerge by the second half of Tuesday.
Counting of votes will be taken up at all the nine district headquarters and sub-divisional headquarters of Jiribam and Kangpokpi. Adequate security arrangements have been made to prevent any untoward incident during the vote count.
Of the total, Congress has 59 candidates, NCP 32, Manipur People's Party 36, BJP 14, CPI 23, Manipur State Congress party 4, JD (U) 4, Samajwadi Party 17, Lok Jana Sakti Party 18 and Independents 60.
Prominent leaders whose fate will be decided on Tuesday are incumbent Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, state Congress president Gaikhangam, senior CPI leader and outgoing Art and Culture Minister Ph Parijat Singh, Manipur People's Party (MPP) president L Chandramani Singh, state BJP chief H Borobabu Singh, state NCP president and former chief minister Radhabinod Koijam and senior CPI leader N Mangi Singh.
The fate of former chief minister R K Dorendra Singh (MPP), senior Congress leader Th Debendra Singh, former chief minister and state RJD chief W Nipamacha Singh, outgoing Speaker Manir Udin Sheikh (Congress), former vice-chancellor of Manipur University N Bioy Singh (MPP), outgoing Education Minister L Nandakumar Singh (Congress) and senior MPP leader O Joy Singh would also be decided on Tuesday.
Sixty-nine seats went to polls on February 21 while polling to Bajpur Assembly seat was countermanded following the death of Congress candidate Janak Raj Sharma.
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