As per the latest trends for all the 40 Assembly seats in Goa, BJP was leading in 19 seats, while Congress was ahead in 10 seats. MGP was ahead in 4 seats, AAP in two and Goa Forward Party and Revolutionary Goans Party ahead in one seat each. Independents were ahead in three seats.
As no party will reach the 21-seat mark on its own, MGP will decide who will form the next government in Goa, a senior political analyst said. Indications are that it will side with BJP in return for Deputy CM's post and key portfolios, he added.
CM Pramod Sawant was leading in Sanquelim constituency, while health minister Vishwajit Rane, a prominent contender for the CM's post, was leading in Valpoi constituency.
After the 2017 elections, Congress failed to form government despite emerging as the single largest party.
The BJP won 13 seats in 2017 elections. Its strength went up to 27 after Congress MLAs quit and joined it. Nine BJP MLAs left ahead of last month's Assembly election, leaving BJP's strength in the outgoing Assembly at 18.
The Congress won 17 seats in 2017 elections. The party's tally went down to five after its MLAs quit and joined BJP. Three Congress MLAs left the party ahead of last month's elections, further depleting the party strength in the outgoing Assembly to two.
Election Commission officials also said on the basis of preliminary trends that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was way ahead of the Congress in Telangana in the five-state elections seen as a trendsetter ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Congress and BJP candidates were leading in 18 constituencies each in Madhya Pradesh, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has ruled for the past 15 years. In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, the two parties were forging ahead in nine seats each.
Congress candidates were ahead of their rivals in 34 constituencies in Rajasthan, a state which has never re-elected a ruling party in recent times, leaving the BJP on the possible winning track in 25.
The TRS made significant gains, leading in 28 seats, leaving the Congress way behind in 15 constituencies.
Ahead of the declaration of actual results on May 23, TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been reaching out to various non-BJP parties as part of efforts to stitch up a coalition that could form a government at the Centre if the NDA fails to cross the majority mark of 272 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Despite the exit polls giving a clear majority to the NDA, Naidu on Monday met Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.
Earlier, he had meet UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, SP President Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and CPI's Sudhakar Reddy and D. Raja over the last few days.
A leader of the Opposition camp said the meetings that Naidu is holding with various Opposition leaders were "informal consultations" to assess the situation.
On Sunday night, Naidu rubbished the exit polls, saying such predictions have "time and again" failed to catch the pulse of the people.
"While undoubtedly TDP govt will be formed in AP, we are confident that non-BJP parties will form a non-BJP govt at the center (sic)," Naidu had tweeted.
Banerjee also slammed the exit polls, calling them "gossip".
"I don't trust Exit Poll gossip. The game plan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip. I appeal to all Opposition parties to be united, strong and bold. We will fight this battle together," she had tweeted.
Raja, while refusing to believe the exit polls, told IANS on Monday that the "exact" poll results will have to be seen.
"Exit polls are not exact polls, as Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said," he said.
The CPI leader said the Left will decide on its role only after the actual results are declared.
"The idea is to get all secular, democratic parties together... Time has come to remove the BJP from power," Raja, who met Naidu on Saturday last, said.
"Despite claims by the BJP that it will get full majority, the party will not have the numbers to form the government.
"There is a situation for all of us to get together and get our act together without loss of time to be in a position to provide an alternative to the NDA," he asserted.
On the question of who would be the Prime Minister of such an alliance of regional parties, he said it will be decided through consensus after the election results are declared.
The Communist leader said the parties at regional or state level, despite their differences, are all convinced about the need to oust the BJP and "save the Constitution and save the secular democracy".
Regional parties like the DMK, the TDP, the RJD and the TMC are already committed against the BJP and so are the SP and the BSP, he said.
Raja said he is in touch with Akhilesh Yadav and he agrees that the BJP should go.
Talking about the Congress, he said the Left was critical of Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala against the CPI-M but indicated that it now tends to ignore that.
"Congress too was not fully convinced about Rahul contesting from there (Wayanad). That is why he (Rahul) said he will not utter a word against the Left," he said.
Regarding the BJD, the TRS and the YSRCP, he said they will decide their stand after the results.
Asked what Naidu approaching leaders of various parties means, Raja said the TDP chief is using his earlier experience (of United Front days) as well as his equation with them.
Naidu was the convener of the United Front which had formed the government at the Centre in 1996 after the Congress failed to get a majority. The Congress had extended its support from outside.
Asked whether the 1996 experiment would be repeated, he said that was a different situation as it was the Congress which had been defeated then.
On who would be the PM candidate of such an alliance, Raja said: "This question is not under discussion as of now. We are not ruling out anybody. It is to be discussed when the numbers come before us. It will be decided on the basis of consensus."
When pointed out that Mayawati has already made clear her desire to be the PM, he said: "What anyone may say individually does not matter."
Asked to comment on efforts by KCR to build a "Federal Front", the Communist leader frowned upon this idea.
"What is a Federal Front? CPM, CPI are for federalism. Congress is not saying it is opposed to federalism. Federal Front is a misnomer. It can't be a regional front of three-four parties. Then call it a Regional Front," he said.
"We want communal forces out of power. We can't lose time. We will have to act."
Bhubaneswar: With less than 24 hours to go for the EVMs to be unlocked leaders of almost all the major parties seem to be on the edge. Irrespective of the euphoria generated by the exit polls among the leaders of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) even they cannot be one hundred sure of what is going to happen tomorrow when votes will be counted.
As far as my assessment goes the most likely scenario for Odisha is a majority for Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the state assembly and nearly 11 seats for party in the Lok Sabha. The BJP, in all likelihood, should get 9 to 10 Lok Sabha seats.
The Congress, if it gets lucky, could bag the Nabarangapur Lok Sabha seat. The contest on this seat is very keen between Congress and its two rivals, BJD and BJP. Congress candidate, Pradeep Majhi is very strong but that is what exactly may prove to be his undoing in the event of anti-BJP votes getting sharply divided between him and the BJD candidate, Ramesh Majhi. In that case BJP candidate, former MP, Balabhadra Majhi may win the seat.
This is also a possibility on the Sundergarh Lok Sabha seat where BJP candidate and union minister, Jual Oram is locked in a triangular contest with BJD’s Sunita Biswal and Congress’s George Tirkey. Both Tirkey and Sunita are strong candidates, the former because of his support base among tribals and Christians and the latter because of the fact that she has the backing of chief minister, Naveen Patnaik. With two strong anti-BJP candidates the saffron candidate may scrape through as has happened in the past.
Another very interesting seat which is being keenly watched is Kendrapara. The seat has assumed special significance because former BJD MP, Baijayant Panda, once considered extremely close to chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, is contesting this time on a BJP ticket. Given his bitter fall-out with Patnaik the outcome on this seat is being eagerly awaited.
Here, too, the contest is triangular but Kendrapara is being widely seen as a proxy war between chief minister, Naveen Patnaik and Panda who happens to be the scion of one of the most influential families in the state. This being a grudge contest Patnaik took personal interest in campaigning here.
The strength of the Congress candidate in Kendrapara appeared to have been undermined by the fact that even a large number of Congressmen viewed it as virtually a direct fight between BJP and ruling BJD. The ruling party candidate, film actor-turned-politician, Anubhav Mohanty, despite his popularity as a movie star, was no match for Panda who had an excellent record as an MP and who also enjoys an excellent rapport with the masses.
But the fact of the matter is in Kendrapara it is not Anubhav versus Panda. The fight is actually between Panda and chief minister, Naveen Patnaik who is believed to have pulled out all stops to ensure his party’s victory. Whether he has been successful or not we will know by this time tomorrow.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
The EC has expanded its digital interface with voters through various mobile apps which provided every detail about the mammoth electoral exercise. One of the runaway hits during the polling has been the Voter Turnout app which gave real-time data on the number of votes polled in each Lok Sabha constituency dissected to every assembly segment.
The detailed voter turnouts used to be given at the end of the poll process, but this time, it was made available instantly through the app.
The Voter Helpline app is available for both android and Iphone users and it also has more than five million downloads. The Voter Turnout app has more than 100,000 downloads. The Voter Helpline app has details of every candidate in the fray.
The app also has detailed results of 2014 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls and a General Election archive. The app was released in January 2019 with various features like submission of online forms for new voter registration and complaints.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar said that the Election Commission has made all the preparations for a smooth and error-free counting of votes at 63 centres in 22 districts across the State. Besides, around 6,700 persons have been deployed for the counting in 152 halls, he informed.
"The counting of votes will begin at 8 am. Extensive arrangements including installation of CCTVs, air condition facility, videography and deployment of security personnel have been made at the centres for smooth completion of the counting process," Kumar said.
Moreover, about 172 platoons of Special Armed Police and 69 Companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed in the State to ensure that there are no untoward incidents during the counting. As per reports, an additional 12 companies are expected to reach the State tomorrow to manage the counting task.
Meanwhile, Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) RP Sharma has asked SPs of all districts to make full proof three-tier security arrangement at the counting centres while informing that the strong rooms having EVMs will be guarded by CAPF personnel. The SPs have also been asked to make additional arrangement of lighting and drinking water at the counting centres as the counting process may continue late into the evening.
Odisha went for a simultaneous poll for 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in four phases and recorded an overall polling percentage of 73.08 per cent.
Eight party candidates-Jual Oram, Suresh Pujari, Pratap Sarangi, Aparajita Sarangi, Sangeeta Singh Deo, Basant Panda, Bisheswar Tudu and Nitesh Ganga Deb- registered victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
Apart from Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan, who were ministers in the last last tenure, speculations are doing rounds that the Ministry might induct new faces. Especially, due to party’s better performance, talks are doing rounds that national secretary Suresh Pujari might be given a portfolio in the new ministry. Similarly, bureaucrat-turned politician Aparajita Sarangi might also be given a portfolio in the Union Ministry.
However, sources said that the decision of allotment of portfolios is likely to be taken by Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
All the elected candidates of BJP along with the winning members of ally parties of the NDA today unanimously elected Narendra Modi as the head of the parliamentary party. Modi later met President Ram Nath Kovind to stake claim to form the new government.
According to sources, party chief Amit Shah, who once again played an instrumental role to reinstate Modi government at the Centre, may be given a crucial ministry. Apart from him, Smriti Irani, who managed to defeat Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Congress' bastion Amethi, may also be allotted important portfolio.
After successfully taking over the responsibility of Finance Ministry after 2014 elections, speculations are rife that Arun Jaitley is likely to stay out of ministerial responsibility on health grounds this time. Similarly, Piyush Goyal may be permanently given the charge of the crucial portolio. Goyal had presented the interim budget for election year budget in the absence of Jaitely.
While winning candidates of other allied parties like JDU, Shiv Sena, LJP might also demand their share during the allocation of ministries, it is also believed that the saffron party might give importance to West Bengal where it performed exceedingly well by winning 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats.
In the general elections, the BJD has secured 12 Lok Sabha seats, while the BJP won eight and the Congress managed to get one. Similarly, out of the 146 Assembly seats, the BJD won 112, while the BJP bagged 23 and Congress secured nine seats. The Communist Party of India-Marxist and an Independent candidate won one seat each.
"The Model Code of Conduct has ceased to be in operation with immediate effect," said a release from the EC.
The MCC for the general election and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim besides by-elections at some places had come into force on March 10 with the announcement of the schedule for the polls.
Several complaints were lodged during election campaigning over violation of the MCC by several political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.