Goa, Uttarakhand vote today with 55 seats in Uttar Pradesh

Panaji/Dehradun/Lucknow: Voting will be held on Monday in all assembly seats in Goa and Uttarakhand, besides 55 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh in the second phase of the State polls, with chief ministers Pramod Sawant and Pushkar Singh Dhami, former CM Harish Rawat and jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan among the prominent candidates in the fray. It is a high-stakes election for the ruling BJP and a litmus test for the Modi government's policies that have been targeted by the Congress, AAP and other opposition parties during their campaign.

The coastal State of Goa, with over 11 lakh voters, has 301 candidates contesting from 40 Assembly seats, while in Uttarakhand, which has an electorate of 81 lakh, 632 candidates, including 152 independents, are fighting from 70 seats. Tight security arrangements were in place in the politically crucial State of Uttar Pradesh where 586 candidates are contesting in this phase from 55 seats spread across the districts of Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur. Over 60,000 police personnel and nearly 800 companies (around 100 security personnel each) of paramilitary forces will be on duty on the election day, officials said, adding 4,917 polling booths out of 12,538 are considered "critical".

"Eight assembly constituencies of Nagina, Dhampur, Bijnor, Asmoli, Sambhal, Deoband, Rampur Maniharan and Gangoh have been placed in the 'sensitive' category," the UP police said in a Statement. Traditionally Goa and Uttarakhand have seen bipolar politics, but they are witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) throwing its hat in the ring. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other smaller parties are also vying to make a mark on Goa's electoral scene. Campaigning was affected by Covid-19 restrictions which were gradually relaxed by the Election Commission in the last couple of weeks. Election officials said all arrangements have been made to conduct polling while following Covid-19 protocols. Over 100 all-women polling booths called 'Sakhi' or pink booths have been set up in each State this time to encourage the participation of women in the polling process, according to officials. Also, some booths will be manned by differently-abled persons. Voting will begin at 8 AM and conclude at 6 PM in Uttarakhand where there will be 11,697 polling booths.

It will be the fifth assembly election to be held in the hill State 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.