The five states — Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur — went to polls on February 10. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa Assembly Election Results 2022 Highlights: As AAP wrested power from Congress in Punjab, the Chief Minister designate, Bhagwant Mann, is all set to take oath of office along with other cabinet ministers on March 16 at Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Bhagat Singh near Nawanshahar.
Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who after BJP’s momentous victory is set to become the first Chief Minister to return to power in the state after completing a five-year term, on Friday submitted his resignation to Governor of the state Anandiben Patel on completion of his first tenure.
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Following a high-octane electoral battle, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in four of the five states. In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) recorded a historic victory, with the largest mandate in recent years in the state. In Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath, too, has scripted history, returning to power. The BJP became the first party to retain power in the state since 1985. The party is also returning to power in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. While CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, in line with tradition, lost his seat, the party managed to beat anti-incumbency. In Goa, BJP crossed the majority mark with the help of three Independent candidates and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which extended its support to the saffron party despite a pre-poll alliance with TMC. Congress leader P Chidambaram noted, “The overwhelming majority voted against the BJP, but their votes were split among many parties, which gave the BJP the opportunity to win 20 seats.”
Punjab Chief Minister-designate Bhagwant Mann on Friday advised the newly-elected MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to remain humble after the massive victory in the Assembly polls and not get into browbeating political opponents.
Speaking to the MLAs in Mohali after being elected leader of the party’s legislative group, Mann said they should not forget that they are also the MLAs of those who did not vote for them.
“I want to request. We should not be arrogant. We should not go to anyone’s house and challenge him. Tell this to your volunteers also. You are also the MLAs of those who have not voted for you. This government has been made by all Punjabis,” he said. Read more
The Election Commission on Friday lifted the model code of conduct which was in force in five states where assembly polls were held recently. The model code of conduct came into place on January 8 in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur where polls were held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. The results were announced on Thursday in which the BJP won Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur. On its own it has touched the halfway mark in Goa. Punjab was won by the AAP. --PTI
After BJP’s momentous victory in Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday submitted his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel as his first tenure came to an end. Yogi is set to become the first Chief Minister to return to power in the state after completing a five-year term. With the win, the BJP became the first party to retain power in the state since 1985.
Punjab AAP leader Bhagwant Mann arrived at Mohali venue for MLA meeting on Friday. Talking to the media outside, he said he has invited Arvind Kejriwal for the oath-taking ceremony to be held at Khatkar Kalan on March 16. On March 13, he will pay obeisance at Amritsar, he added.
"Akhilesh Yadav and SP accept people's mandate. We thank people of UP for the 2.5 times increase in the seat tally and a 1.5 times surge in the vote share. The results have shown that the BJP's seat count can be decreased & this decline would continue," Samajwadi Party said.
As much as 27 per cent of the 70 candidates who have won the Uttarakhand assembly polls have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to poll reforms advocacy group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The ADR said the Uttarakhand Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all the 70 winning candidates. Read more
AAP leader Bhagwant Mann will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab on March 16. The party on Thursday registered a thumping victory in the state where it wrested power from Congress.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday termed the BJP's victory in assembly elections in four states as “not a true reflection of people's mandate” and accused the saffron camp of looting votes by using the election machinery.
Reiterating her call for an opposition alliance to defeat the BJP, Banerjee said there is no use of “sitting" idle and waiting for the Congress.
"The party (BJP) should not raise its voice much just because they have won in a few states. This victory is not a true reflection of the people's mandate. This verdict is because of the blatant use of the election machinery to loot votes. --PTI
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Goa will dissolve assembly from March 14, said CM Pramod Sawant. "Today was the last cabinet meeting of the tenure. We thanked everyone. We also took a resolution to dissolve the assembly from March 14 as tenure is ending...Swearing-in ceremony of new govt will be decided by the central observer," he said.
Aam Aadmi Party CM candidate for Punjab Bhagwant Mann meets party convener Arvind Kejriwal and party leader Manish Sisodia, in Delhi.
Reacting to the results of the Assembly elections, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu called the people's mandate a "great decision". The Congress party met with a resounding defeat in Assembly elections, losing power in Punjab.
"You reap what you sow...This election was for a change. People took a great decision...public is never wrong," Sidhu was quoted as saying by ANI.
He added, "I'm not going into a deep thought on whether people accepted Channi's face as CM's candidate or not."
For a party to be recognised as a 'national party' it needs to meet one of the three criteria – and the AAP doesn't meet any of these:
> It needs to win at least two per cent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha (11 seats) from at least three different states. At present, the AAP has just 1 seat in the Lok Sabha; that of Bhagwant Mann's.
> Get at least six per cent votes in four states in addition to four Lok Sabha seats. It currently has only 6.7% voteshare in Goa as per the EC's trends thus far, and 3.3% in Uttarakhand. In the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, it got 53.6% vote share.
> Be recognised as a ‘state party’ in four or more states. The party only has recognition in Goa, Delhi and Punjab. For any party to be recognised as a state party, it must secure six per cent of the votes during the Assembly elections and two Assembly seats; or six per cent of votes in the Lok Sabha from the state and an MP from the state; or three per cent of total Assembly seats or three seats (whichever is greater); or one MP from every 25 Lok Sabha seats or eight per cent of total votes in the state during the Lok Sabha election from the state or the Assembly polls. Read Anisha Dutta's explainer here
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said the decision of people is paramount as he hoped the new governments in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand will work for farmers and labourers.
"In the great festival of democracy, the decision of the people is paramount. The farmers' movement showed its effect. We hope that all the governments that have been formed will work for to uplift farmers and labourers in their respective states. Congratulations to all on the victory," Tikait tweeted in Hindi.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi described the results of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections as a "victory of 80-20" and felt that such an atmosphere would continue for many more years in the country's democracy.
Owaisi, whose party drew a blank in the UP polls, has said the AIMIM respects the people's verdict and continues to make efforts to win people's confidence in the future.
"Political parties are screaming about EVMs to hide their failures. I had said in 2019 also, that the error is not of EVMs. The chip that has been put in people's mind, that is playing a big role," he said on Thursday. "Success has definitely happened. But, it is the success of 80-20," he said, in an apparent reference to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's comments about "80-20" in the context of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. (PTI)
Emboldened by its victories in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur, the BJP has begun strategising for the next elections, claiming that it starts planning for the next on the same night that the results for one come out.
With the results being widely seen as an endorsement to the BJP’s welfare politics — various schemes and an effective delivery system, cutting across caste and religious lines — party sources said they would focus on consolidating its new “vote bank” of “women and beneficiaries of welfare schemes” to consolidate them further. Read Liz Mathew's report here
The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave approval to recommend the State Governor Banwarilal Purohit for dissolution of 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha. A decision to this effect was taken during a virtual Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi here at his official residence this morning.
At the end of the meeting, the Chief Minister thanked all his cabinet colleagues, officers, employees and people for overall development and maintaining peace and tranquillity in the state during the tenure of the present government.
The Chief Minister also congratulated the incoming government and hoped that the new government would earnestly implement the promises made to the people. He also hoped that the decisions taken by his government in the public interest such as reduction of electricity rates, slashing VAT on oil besides decreasing rates of sand and gravel etc. would be continued by the next government.
With the BJP retaining power in four states in the country, its friend-turned-foe Shiv Sena on Friday needled the party saying that it should not suffer from indigestion due to this success as it is more difficult to digest victory than defeat.
In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Sena said that the BJP’s victory in four states will have no bearing on Maharashtra, and said its impact would be akin to what unfolds when monkeys get hold of a liquor bottle. Read more
Samajwadi Party’s Kanpur vice-president Narendra Singh alias ‘Pintu’ (55) allegedly attempted suicide by setting himself ablaze outside the Vidhan Bhawan in Lucknow on Thursday after his party lost the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
SP’s Kanpur district president Dr Imran said that Narendra Singh took the step because he felt the party lost the state Legislative Assembly election to the BJP due to irregularities in electronic voting machines (EVM). Read more
Incumbent Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, lost both the seats he was contesting from in the Assembly elections. On Friday, he submitted his resignation to the governor.
The Aam Aadmi Party has registered a landslide victory in the state and Bhagwant Mann is set to take over as the chief minister.
In today's episode of '3 things' podcast, host Shashank Bhargava is joined by Indian Express’ Liz Mathew, and Manraj Grewal Sharma to decode the election results. Among other things, they discuss the reasons behind BJP’s win, what the AAP’s victory means for its national ambitions, and the lessons that the Congress needs to learn. Tune in!