Uttarakhand votes today

Dehradun: The 70 assembly seats of Uttarakhand spread over 13 districts will go to the polls on Monday with over 81 lakh voters all set to decide the fate of 632 candidates, including 152 independents, in the fray.

Polling will begin at 8 am and conclude at 6 pm. Electioneering which was carried out aggressively by the political parties through virtual as well as physical rallies and door-to-door campaigns in the state came to an end on Saturday evening. It will be the fifth assembly elections to be held in Uttarakhand after its creation in 2000. Important candidates whose fate is to be decided in these polls include Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his cabinet colleagues Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey, Dhan Singh Rawat and Rekha Arya besides state BJP president Madan Kaushik.

Prominent faces from the Congress in the fray include former chief minister Harish Rawat, former minister Yashpal Arya, state Congress president Ganesh Godiyal and Leader of Opposition in the fourth assembly Pritam Singh. Star campaigners of BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati held a slew of rallies to seek votes for their candidates during electioneering which was held for the most part amid Covid restrictions.

Seeking a second consecutive term in office, the BJP stalwarts have warned voters against the Congress's "policy of appeasement" and asked for votes for the party highlighting the big road, rail and air connectivity projects underway in the state and the ones in the pipeline besides the reconstruction of Kedarnath over the past five years.

Goa will vote on Monday to decide the fate of 301 candidates who are in the fray for 40 Assembly seats, for which all preparations have been made.

Traditionally a state with bipolar politics, Goa is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other smaller parties vying to make a mark on the state's electoral scene.

To check the spread of COVID-19, voters will be provided hand gloves at the polling stations, an election official said, adding that more than 100 'all-women' polling booths were set up in the state for the convenience of female voters.

As many as 81 flying squads were operational across the coastal state, he said.

The prominent candidates include Chief Minister Pramod Sawant (BJP), Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat (Congress), former CMs Churchill Alemao (TMC), Ravi Naik (BJP), Laxmikant Parsekar (independent), former deputy CMs Vijai Sardesai (GFP) and Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP), late CM Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar and AAP's CM face Amit Paleker.

Over 11 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes on Monday. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.