The incumbent government of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, may see a second term, if exit polls released today are to be believed. This would make his government the first in the state's history to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term. This would also serve to mirror the sentiments on the ground with the general election to Lok Sabha being a little more than two year away.
The BJP may even retain Manipur, according to these polls.
The Congress party may lose Punjab, benfitting the Aam Aadmi Party, the state's main opposition, after internal conflict last year, where then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was replaced by current CM Charanjit Singh Channi. Most polls are showing that AAP has the advantage, though the quantum of this advantage differs.
The remaining two states, Uttarakhand and Goa are too close to call. Though these states have a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP, players like the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi party may play spoilsport and may eventually be kingmakers.
However, these exit polls can often be wrong.
The counting of the votes is on March 10.
Here's what the exit polls show.
Uttar Pradesh
UP's legislature has 404 seats, where 203 is a majority. The opinion polls suggest that the BJP led by Adityanath will cross this comfortably. The Samajwadi Party led by former CM Akhilesh Yadav will chip away some of their seats though and is expected to make considerable gains. The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayawati are also contesting.
Punjab
The state legislature has 117 seats, and AAP is the shows across the polls to win. The CM face for the party is Bhagwant Mann. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the Congress led by Charanjit Singh Channi and party formed Captain Amarinder in association with the BJP are also in the fray.
Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, where 70 seats are up for grabs, most polls are conflicted, which may be an indication of a close contest in store.
Goa
The incumbent government in Goa, led by CM Pramod Sawant, will primarily face the Congress for the 40-seat assembly. However, other parties like the Trinamool Congress and AAP could chip away a few seats and be the deciding factor in who forms the next government.
Manipur
N. Biren Singh is the first BJP CM of Manipur, and is the incumbent. The exit polls show that the BJP might fall short of forming a government on their own, but are within reach of forming the government.
