The voting pattern in the two states suggests that it could be AAP in Punjab and BJP in Goa. The opinions polls indicated a different pattern in the beginning but after polling the wave was clear for AAP in Punjab. Goa looked as if it was looking for the return of Parrikar.
The BJP is in power in both Goa and in Punjab where it rules with ally Akali Dal. Traditional rival and new player AAP hopes to benefit from an anti-incumbency sentiment.
Punjab saw a high voter turnout in the Malwa belt, which has 69 out of the state’s 117 assembly seats and is decisive for any party’s victory. The Aam Aadmi Party is seen to be giving the Akali Dal and the Congress a run for their money in the region.
Rs 58 crore cash, 12.43 lakh litre liquor worth Rs 13.34 crore, 2,598 kg of drugs and narcotics were seized in Punjab, Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena said.
If the BJP wins in these elections it will credit the success to PM Modi’s ban on 500-and 1,000-rupee notes in November, aimed at eliminating black money. Opposition parties have attacked it on demonetisation, accusing it of pushing the poor into deeper distress with the cash crunch and slowdown of economic activity that has followed.
How AAP fares is being watched with keen interest as the four-year-old party attempts to extend its influence beyond Delhi, where it swept assembly elections two years ago. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a vote appeal to Punjab in Gurmukhi this morning.
The Akali Dal-BJP alliance has ruled Punjab for two straight terms, ten years, and both the Congress and AAP hope to benefit from an anti-incumbency sentiment.
The Congress has done poorly in most state elections since it was reduced in 2014 to its lowest ever tally in Parliament. It hopes to reverse that trend in Punjab, but has a battle on its hands with AAP eating into the vote shares of both Congress and the Akali-Dal-BJP alliance.
Key contests on Saturday featured a fight between chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, 89, of the Akali Dal and Captain Amarinder Singh, 75, of the Congress in Lambi and a mega battle in Jalalabad between the Chief Minister’s son and deputy Sukhbir Badal and Bhagwant Singh Mann, seen as AAP’s leading contender for Chief Minister if the party wins.
In Goa, which has 40 assembly seats, the BJP hopes to form government again despite parting ways with partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) soon after elections were announced. The MGP, which has set up a three-party regional alliance, threatens to eat into BJP votes.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, former Goa chief minister and his successor Laxmikant Parsekar were early voters on Saturday. In 2012, the BJP had won 21 of the 40 seats, a majority on its own, with its partner adding three seats, and the party hopes to do that again.
