Assembly elections 2022: BJP in firm position for Presidential election

The BJP headed for a second successive victory in politically important Uttar Pradesh and dominated the score charts in three other states, while the Aam Aadmi Party announced its national presence with a resounding victory in Punjab, its victory catapulting India’s tally. Redrawn the political map and reduced the Congress even further. ,

As votes were counted on Thursday for elections to five states held in February and March, a possible four-for-one score for India’s ruling party underscored its political prowess. According to the trends and results of the Election Commission website, BJP was ahead in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa as well.

A huge victory in Uttar Pradesh, which looks almost certain, gives the BJP an edge in the election of its presidential candidate.

The fabric of Congress was written on the electoral battlefield. The party, which is now in power only in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, lost Punjab and was ahead with a 2.3 per cent vote share in only two seats in Uttar Pradesh – despite a high-decibel campaign by the Gandhi siblings Rahul and Priyanka.

But all eyes were on Uttar Pradesh, the key electoral battleground, where the Yogi Adityanath-led government was preparing to come to power for the second consecutive term.

In the trends and results available for 403 seats, the ruling party was ahead in 250 seats, down from the earlier count of 312, but comfortably more than half in the coming elections a year after the disastrous second Covid wave. This will be the first time in three decades that a party will be re-elected for a second term in the state.

President Ram Nath Kovind will complete his term on 24 July 2022.

The electoral college for the Presidential election consists of elected members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and elected members of state legislatures and the NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Members of Legislative Councils and nominated members are not part of the electoral college.

The Samajwadi Party, which along with its leader Akhilesh Yadav had made a vigorous bid to attract huge crowds to campaign rallies, was trailing with a lead in 120 seats, a significant jump from 47 last time. Analysts said this was enough to create a vocal opposition, but also shied away from power with the support of its allies, the RLD and the SBSP, which were ahead in 10 and four seats respectively.

Adding to the saffron party’s tally, BJP’s ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) was ahead in 12 seats. The BSP, which had barely made a splash in the campaign, was leading in two seats with a vote share of 12.7%.

In terms of numbers, the electoral college is made up of 233 members of the Rajya Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha and 4,120 members of the Legislative Assemblies – a total of 4,896 electors. The value of each MP’s vote has been fixed at 708, while the maximum value of an MLA’s vote in the states is 208. The total value of votes in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly is 83,824, followed by Punjab (13,572), Uttarakhand (4480), Goa (800) and Manipur (1080).

(with inputs from PTI)