Assembly election: It is natural for BJP and MGP to come together to form next govt in Goa, Fadnavis says

The first meeting of the Congress legislative party will be held on Thursday after the results of the Punjab Assembly polls are declared. The announcement was made by Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday, a day before the counting of votes for 117 assembly constituencies of the state.

Ahead of the counting of votes for Punjab polls, Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann has exuded confidence of party's comfortable victory in the state and said people have rejected other political parties

Congress claimed on Wednesday that talks were already underway with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for obtaining support for government formation in Goa if there was a hung Assembly. Counting of votes following the February 14 assembly elections is set to start on Thursday morning. State Congress chief Girish Chodankar told reporters that AAP leaders were “already in talks with Congress leaders." AAP leaders including the party's chief ministerial candidate Amit Palekar were not available for comments. “AAP has said that under no circumstances it will support the BJP,” Chodankar said, claiming that the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) too will support Congress. “The MGP has been badly betrayed by the BJP so often. A senior leader like Sudin Dhavalikar was humiliated and thrown out of the cabinet. There is no way the MGP will go with the BJP,” he said. The BJP could form government in Goa in 2017 only with the backing of the Goa Forward Party and MGP, but later it "tried to finish off these parties," Chodankar alleged. The Congress leader expressed confidence that his party will win the Goa elections.

The counting of votes for the recently held elections to the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly will start at 8 am on Thursday, informed the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Wednesday. According to a statement issued by the State CEO, before the commencement of the counting of votes, the returning officer for maintaining the secrecy of voting will read Section 128 in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to all the officers, clerks, agents, or other persons performing the duty of counting votes.

All arrangements have been made for the counting of ballots at 66 locations for the 117-member Punjab assembly elections from 8 a.m. on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S. Karuna Raju said on Wednesday. He said three-tier security measures have been set up with deployment of 45 companies of Central armed police forces at all 117 counting centres. A total of 7,500 personnel will be deputed for the counting process in the state. The CEO said that a 100-m radius around the counting centres has been declared a 'pedestrian zone' and no one will be allowed to drive in that zone.

The Aam Aadmi Party will emerge as the main contender to the ruling BJP in Gujarat, where the Assembly elections are due in December this year, a state AAP leader has claimed. Since decades, the BJP and Congress have been the dominating political forces in Gujarat, but some political observers say like in Delhi, the AAP now has a good chance to take on the BJP.

Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohsin Raza on Wednesday slammed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for accusing the ruling BJP of trying to "steal" votes by saying that it is sad to question the working of Election Commission of India.

Days after several exit polls predicted a clean sweep for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab assembly elections, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday said that he does not believe in them and further mentioned that exit polls and opinion polls should be banned. SAD expressed confidence in being voted to power in the recently held assembly elections.

Last time mandate was in our favour, but leadership never thought that they (BJP) will try to form illegitimate govt, that's why we delayed our decision which proved to be fatal. Won't take any chances this time.