The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to retain power in Uttarakhand, albeit with lower seats as compared to 2017, the India Today - Axis My India exit poll predicted. The ruling BJP is predicted to win 36-46 seats in the 70-member assembly with a 44 per cent vote share, while Congress is likely to bag 20-30 seats with a vote share of 40 per cent. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is predicted to win 2-4 seats in the state.
The BJP had managed to secure 46.51 per cent of the total votes polled in 2017, followed by the Congress with 33.49 per cent. BJP had won 57 seats in the last Assembly polls, while Congress had won just. Two seats went to independent candidates. 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 the candidates whose fate will be decided on March 10. Prominent faces from Congress in the fray include former chief minister Harish Rawat, former minister Yashpal Arya, state Congress president Ganesh Godiyal and leader of Opposition Pritam Singh. The voting for Assembly elections in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa -- was held between February 10 and March 7.
Voting for the seventh and final phase in 54 seats in UP's Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra was conducted on Monday. The results for all five states will be declared on March 10.
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