12.30pm: Speaking to the media, the face of the Samajawadi Party Akhilesh Yadav ruled himself out as a Chief Ministerial candidate for the state of Uttar Pradesh. Hailing the performance of the Samajawadi Party thus far, Yadav said, “I am grateful that people put their faith in SP.” He said, “We are waiting for the complete results. We are sure to win by a clear majority.” Akhilesh said that the result was an indication that the voters have risen above caste.
12.18pm: Congress are catching up to the Akali Dal in Punjab with just four seats separating the two parties. The Akali Dal has 59 seats to the Congress’ 55 seats. Meanwhile in Uttarakhand, Congress and BJP are tied with leads in 30 seats apiece.
12.04pm: As leads from Uttar Pradesh continue to show a strong showing for the Samajawadi Party, current Chief Minister Mayawati is expected to meet the governor at 3.30pm to submit her resignation. The latest tally showed the SP leading in 196 seats, with the BSP in second place. The Congress is in third place with 50 leads in 50 seats, fending off the BJP who are leading in 49 seats.
11.52am: The BJP has overtaken the Congress in Uttarakhand by one seat. Early leads show 30 seats for the BJP as opposed to the Congress’ 29.
11.33am: The Samajawadi party has said that it may reach out to the RLD to form the next government in Uttar Pradesh, and that they would form the next government no matter what. However trends indicate that it may also have to seek Congress support in order to do that. The Samajawadi Party is leading but does not have nearly enough votes to form a government on its own. The BJP which showed strong early leads has now been pushed to fourth place in the state with leads in 46 seats, while Congress is in third place with leads in 50 seats.
11.24am: In Goa the BJP wins 3 seats, leads in another 6. BJP’s Mahadev Narayan Naik wins from Siroda by over 2200 votes. It is closing the gap with the Congress in Uttarakhand with only a two seat difference in leads.
11.15am: In a leads breakdown in UP, it has been found that both the BJP and Congress are doing better in Muslim seats than in non Muslim seats. This is in direct contrast to the SP which is doing better in Non Muslim seats in the state. The BSP is expectedly making gains in Dalit areas.
10.55am: Smaller states: The Congress has strengthened its lead in Uttarakhand to 33 seats over the BJP’s 25. Meanwhile results for 3 seats are out in Manipur – Congress wins all 3. The BJP is leading in Goa. Prakash Javdekar, of the BJP speaking to CNN IBN says, “We are very happy with the results; there is a swing towards BJP in Goa.”
10.44am: SP lead in 170 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while BSP leads in 102. The difference between BJP and Congress now just four seats. BSP now leading in more seats than BJP and Congress combined.
10.40am: Congress (31) leading BJP (25) by six seats in Uttarakhand, while in Goa BJP is leading in 9 seats while the Congress is leading in 3. Congress candidate says he is going home to sleep, and will only come out of his house if “a miracle happens”. In Manipur the Congress is leading in 21 seats.
10.27am: The Samajawadi Party is now leading in 165 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while the BSP seems to have cemented second place as it is now showing a lead of 90 seats to the BJP’s 57. The BJP’s Sudhir Kulkarni said that the BJP ought to have done even better, given the early trends in favour of his party. Meanwhile Rajiv Pratap Rudy, of the BJP has said, “We have decided to sit in the opposition in Uttar Pradesh. Will not support anyone.”
10.22am: The Congress has officially won seats in Manipur and Goa. However the early trends still show a lead for BJP in Goa.
10.09am: SP extends lead in UP to 148 seats. The BSP (85) has overtaken the BJP (61) to take second place, while the Congress has to be content with a fourth place position of 47 seats. Meanwhile the Congress has said the Punjab results were surprising where it is only leading in 44 seats to the Akali’s 66.
10.00am: The Congress has lost early leads in Goa, Uttarakhand and Punjab and only looks to set to win in Manipur. The BJP is leading in Goa and Uttarakhand while the SP has cemented its lead in Uttar Pradesh. The fight for second spot in UP is between BSP(73) and BJP(67).
9.47am: Experts analyzing the UP results, say that Congress is being punished for playing the Communal card. The Congress has meanwhile, admitted that it was disappointed with the early trends. Results so far show that the party is leading in 42 seats, which puts it in fourth place behind the BJP and BSP.
9.40am: The BJP has overtaken the Congress in Uttarakhand. The BJP is leading in 27 seats, while the Congress is leading in 22 seats. The BSP is leading in 6 seats. In Punjab the Akali’s have stretched their lead over the Congress, leading in 60 seats while the Congress is leading in 36. This is the first time an incumbent is coming back in Punjab.
9.37am: In UP, the SP are leading in 124 seats which is a lead of 54. The BJP is leading in 59 seats which is a gain of 18, while the BSP is at 54 seats which is a loss of 81 seats. The Congress is leading in 32 seats which is a gain of 5. The general feeling is that the Congress will be very disappointed with the result.
9.30am: In Punjab, the Akali is leading in 43 seats which is a gain of one seat, while the Congress is leading in 32 seats which is a gain of 2. The BJP is leading in 12 seats which is a loss of 5 seats over their last showing.
9.21am: The momentum of the Samajawadi Party has lost some of its early momentum, leading in 108 seats which is a gain of 48. However the BSP is covering some of the ground it lost, leading in 43 seats. The BJP is leading in 56 seats while Congress is leading in 28 seats.
9.15am: Goa results come at last. The Congress and BJP are leading in 2 seats apiece. But this is a gain of 2 seats for the BJP and a loss of 2 seats for the Congress.
9.08am: The Samajawadi Party is leading in 60 seats which is a gain of 22 seats over the last time. The BJP has gained in 21 seats, leading in 43 seats. The BSP is down in 44 seats as it is leading in only 24 constituencies, while the Congress is down 1 seat, as it is leading in 20 seats.
9.03am: In Punjab, the Akali’s are cementing their lead, leading in 27 seats while the Congress is leading in 20. Congress leading in both Uttarakhand and Manipur. In Manipur the Congress is leading in 9 seats while Independents are leading in 3 seats. Analysts from Manipur say however that while Congress may come in to power, infighting within the party means there is still a lot of uncertainty on who the Chief Minister will be.
8.58am: In Uttar Pradesh the Samajawadi Party is leading in 44 seats which is a gain of 18 seats. Meanwhile the BJP is leading in 30 seats which is a gain of 12 seats, and the Congress is leading in 18 seats which is a gain of 3. The BSP however is down 32 seats from the last time as it is only leading in 16 seats. Experts say that this is more to do with the crumbling of Mayawati‘s ruling coalition rather than anti incumbency as a factor.
8.47am: Leads from Punjab show gains for Congress is leading in 11 seats, a gain of 4 seats over the last time. The Akali Dal is leading in 12 seats but is down 4 seats from the last time. In Manipur the Congress is leading in 8 seats which is a gain of 3, while independents are leading in 2 seats.
In Goa, the first trend shows a lead for independent candidates, while in Uttarakhand the Congress is leading in 12 seats which is a gain of 5, while the BJP is leading in 8 seats which is a fall of 7 seats from the last time.
8.43am: Early trends in Uttar Pradesh show that the Samajawadi Party is almost doubling the number of seats it had the last time. If these trends continue, it is almost certain that the SP will form the next government in the state. It is leading in 30 seats, which is a gain of 13 seats over the last time. The BJP is leading in 24 seats, while the Congress and BSP are leading in 10 seats apiece.
8.37am: In Punjab Congress is leading 17, which is a lead of 5. The Akali Dal has 4 seats which is a loss of 5 seats from the last election. In UP, the BSP continues with its downward spiral,down 25 seats from the last election as they are leading in only 12 seats so far.
8.31am: BJP doing extraordinarily well in UP, leading in 19 seats which is a gain of 9 seats. The party is also leading in Mayawati’s constituency. The BSP is down 18 seats in the state. The Congress has gained one seat over the previous time, while the SP is up 7 seats. Leads have come in for 41 seats in Uttar Pradesh so far. Punjab is leading in 11 seats in Punjab, which is a gain of 6 seats over the last election. In Uttarakhand, the Congress has gained one seat, while the BJP has lost one seat.
8.28am: BJP leading in 10 seats of 29, a lead of 4, The SP leading in 10 seats which is a gain of 5. The BSP is leading in 3 seats which is a loss of 11.
8.25am: Congress leading in Ludhiana.
8.17am: Early leads show gains for BJP in Uttar Pradesh, and Congress in Punjab. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP gains 2 seats leading in 5, the BSP looks like it is down in 2 seats. The Congress is down 1 seat, but the SP is holding on to its one seat. In Punjab, the Congress are leading in 5 seats, which is a gain of 3.
8.00am:Months of campaigning and voting all come down to this moment, as counting begins across the five states that went to polls. Exit polls thus far have given the Samajawadi Party a majority in UP, and predicted Congress wins in Manipur and Uttarakhand. Punjab is apparently too close to call, while in Goa there is still a lot of uncertainty on what might happen. The exit polls have been met with the usual mixture of cautious celebration and outright derision by political parties.
In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati called for a emergency cabinet meeting late on Sunday night in which it was decided to recommend to the UP Governor to dissolve the UP assembly. The recommendation usually comes after the results of the elections and where the incumbent Chief Minister resigns and the Governor of the state invites the side with the most votes to form the government.
The decision came a day ahead of the counting and results in the UP elections, and after multiple exit polls predicted a sharp drop in results for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Join R Jagganathan and other Firstpost editors for a video chat on a Google+ Hangout at 3pm to discuss #Elections2012”
