Modi juggernaut rolls in UP, Uttarakhand; Cong victory in Punjab

Making a mincemeat of the Samajwadi Party-Congress combine, that many thought would put up a grim battle, the BJP has either won or led in 317 of the state's 403 seats, recording a feat for any party in the last 37 years to have gained  the 300 plus majority in Uttar Pradesh.

To form a Government in Uttar Pradesh a party requires to bag 202 seats.

The SP-Cong alliance won only 64 seats and Mayawati's Bahujan Party 18.

All the BJP top guns  attribute the astounding v ictory to Narnedra Modi's charisma as party workers have started celebrating holi all over.

In UP, the BJP's lead is a big gain of 269 over what it achieved in the 2012 Assembly election.

The BJP is also poised for another sweep to capture power  in the adjoining Uttarakhand, as it took comprehensive lead in 57 of the state's 70 seats, while the Congress is ahead in only eleven.

Goa appears to be heading for a hung Assembly as the Congress and BJP are going neck and neck, respectively winning or leading in 16 and 13 of the 38 seats, results or trend for which have been declared so far. The state has 40 seats with 21 being the magic figure for capturing power..

The only consolation for Congress comes in Punjab, where it is leading in 77 of the 117  seats, surging much ahead of the halfway figure of 59 and making sure its ascent to powers.

In Punjab the Aam Aadmi Party takes the second spot and the ruling Akali Dal- BJP  combine third, respectively leading in 22 and 18 seats.

Elections of all states were held in phases and the last phase of election ended on March 8.

BJP president Amit Shah thanked voters and BJP workers and said the Prime Minister will be felicitated on Sunday evening.

Summing up the position that Modi now commands within the BJP by dint of his leading the party to successive victories, especially the one in UP, Union Minister Smriti Irani commented : "This is a win of Modiji's leadership and Amit Shahji's hard work. It has broken all barriers of religion, caste and creed."

Another Minister Piyush Goyal said, " Today, the nation is standing with PM Modi. This is the victory of the people of UP."

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad :"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen as a messiah of the poor now with his measures and the UP poll results are a tectonic shift in Indian politics," said senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad

"You cannot explain this result in a simple way. It is a tectonic shift in politics of India. I think young Muslims also voted for us," said Prasad, speaking to a TV channel.

"I would say whole UP went for change. Modi is seen as a leader of the poor,  messiah of the poor. The limitation of Bihar perhaps we overcame here in UP," he said.

Another BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi said the results even surpassed her own estimation of seat tally in UP and in this election the result was not owing to polarisation but constructive politics.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said a mandate for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is what the Opposition has to accept as he emphasised on building young and regional leadership for Congress but ruled out Rahul Gandhi quitting as the Congress vice-president since the Gandhi family is the binding factor in the party.

"This is the mandate of the people and we have to accept that. Time has come for national parties and this is also somewhat a downslide for the regional parties," he told a national TV channel.

"Congress has to build up regional leadership. We have to build up new leaderships in the state," he said.

To a question on Rahul Gandhi stepping down, Singh said that is not possible. He said the Nehru Gandhi factor is the biggest binding factor for the Congress party.

"We have to take decisive action on what we have to do in regional levels to have new leaders," he said.

A senior Congress leader earlier said the parties should now move beyond Modi phobia and campaign.

PARTY POSITIONS AT  3 pm

UTTAR PRADESH:  BJP+317,  SP-CONG 64,  BSP 18,  OTH 4

PUNJAB: INC 77,  SAD+ 22,   AAP+18,  OTH  0

UTTARAKHAND: BJP 57,   INC 11,  OTH 2

GOA:  INC 16,  BJP 13, OTH 9

MANIPUR: BJP 13,  INC 11, OTH  9,  PRJA  0