New Delhi: After a poll battle that stretched for months, the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious in four out of five states, while in Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party created history by winning against established rivals with a great margin. Ahead of the mega performance by the BJP in four states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to voters in political rallies to choose a “the double-engine government” as it would work in their favour, and the party drew rich dividends as far as the results go. According to the Election Commission statistics uploaded on their website on Friday, the BJP won 255 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while its principal rival the Samajwadi Party won 111 seats. The BSP of Mayawati, who was a four time chief minister, won only on one seat in a 403 member Assembly. With this resounding victory, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath created records. For the first time after 1985, a political party retained power in the state. The BJP managed to beat the anti incumbency in Uttarakhand as well. In the 70-member Assembly, the party won on 47 seats, while the Congress won only 19, the BSP secured 2, as per the final tally released by the poll panel. In the 60-member Manipur Assembly, the BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 32 constituencies. The National People’s Party won 7, the JD(U) won 6 seats. The Congress and Naga People’s Front got five seats each, independent candidates won three seats and Kuki People’s Alliance secured win on two seats. In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the BJP reached the half way mark by winning 20 seats – just one seat short of majority, the Congress won 11, independent candidates in the state won 3 seats, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Aam Aadmi Party each won on 2 constituencies. The Goa Forward Party and Revolutionary Goans Party got 1 each. The MGP has already extended its support to the BJP. The Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party scored a spectacular victory in Punjab by winning 92 seats. According to the Election Commission figures, the Congress won 18 seats, Shiromani Akali Dal won 3 seats and others won on four seats in a 117 member Assembly. AAP leader Bhagwant Mann, who won from Dhuri Assembly seat by a margin of over 58,000 votes, is set to become the next chief minister of the state. The elections took place in seven phases in Uttar Pradesh starting on February 10, while in Manipur it was in two phases, Goa, Uttarakhand and Punajb witnessed single day polling. The voting ended on March 7 and counting was held on Thursday. UNI ASU ING
