Goa, Uttarakhand Elections 2022 Live Updates: Goa records 26.63% voter turnout till 11 am; Uttarakhand records 18.97%

Campaigning ended in Goa and Uttarakhand on Saturday, 48 hours ahead of the much-anticipated Assembly elections.

The voting for the Goa Assembly elections will be held between 7 am and 6 pm on 14 February 2022.

Uttarakhand will also vote on Monday for its 70-member Assembly seats. Polling will begin at 8 am and conclude at 6 pm.

In Goa, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is being challenged by Congress, Trinamool Congress and Aam Admi Party (AAP) in a multi-cornered electoral contest.

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

The polls will see a total of 301 candidates from different political parties fighting over 40 Assembly seats as Goa goes to polls in a single phase on Monday.

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.

The ruling BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party remain principal contenders for the Assembly elections in Goa along with Shiv Sena.

Goa Assembly has a strength of 40 members out of which the BJP currently has 17 legislators and enjoys the support of legislators from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Vijay Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), and three independents. The GFP and MGP each have three MLAs, and Congress, on the other hand, has 15 MLAs in the house.

Utpal Parrikar, son of former Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar, is contesting as an independent candidate from his father's traditional Panaji Assembly seat. He had resigned from the BJP after he was denied a ticket from the Panaji Assembly constituency.

The BJP has fielded Congress party turncoat Atanasio "Babush" Monserrate from the Panaji seat. He had joined the BJP along with nine other MLAs in 2019 from Congress.

The Panaji Assembly seat has its own importance in electoral politics of the state. Former Union Minister for Defence Manohar Parrikar, who had represented Panaji, had been a three term Chief Minister of the state.

Goa witnessed intense electioneering by the top leaders of various political parties.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram along with the AICC in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao canvassed in Goa, seeking votes for works carried out by the Congress led governments in the past, slamming political rivals for hampering welfare of the people in the state.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar also posted a video message for voters in Goa. He recalled works done by the Congress led government in the past in the state.

Similarly, several candidates of the BJP, Congress and TMC along with other political parties posted video messages, highlighting the developmental works carried out by them in their respective constituencies.

Meanwhile, AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also promised cash assistance for every woman above the age of 18 years and other benefits for many communities if his party came to power in the state.

The AAP has declared lawyer turned politician Amit Palekar as its Chief Ministerial face for the Goa Assembly polls.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday highlighted that the model of good governance in Maharashtra should be replicated in all other states.

In Uttarakhand, the incumbent BJP is challenged by Congress, who is hoping for a comeback, and Aam Admi Party (AAP) has pitched in to find a foothold in the state.

There are 632 candidates for 70 Assembly seats.

Other than the BJP and Congress, and AAP, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are also testing their electoral strengths in the state.

The AAP has named a retired colonel and candidate from Gangotri seat Ajay Kothiyal as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Former state Chief Minister Harish Rawat led the Congress campaign during the campaigning. The BJP's star campaigners sought to build the poll plank on the works done by the incumbent Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Dhami is contesting from the Khatima Assembly seat whereas Rawat is in from the Lalkuwa constituency.

On the last day of campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed a number of election rallies.

Just a day before the campaigning concluded, Dhami stirred a new row by promising contentious Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state if the BJP retained power.

The counting of votes in Goa and Uttarakhand will take place on 10 March.

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