Assembly polls 2022: Some unique facts about the 5 states

New Delhi, Mar 07: The elections in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa have been hard fought and by March 10, the results will be known.

Uttar Pradesh:

Uttar Pradesh has been an important state politically and it sends the most number of MPs (80) to Parliament and very often it is said that the one who wins UP, wins India. UP was granted statehood on January 26 1950 and today the state whose capital is Lucknow is the fourth largest in India according to area. As per the 2011 census, the population of UP was 199,812,341.

The UP assembly has 404 seats, while in the legislative assembly there are 100. The first chief minister of UP was Govind Ballabh Pant. Some of the top leaders of UP are Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Kalyan Singh, Akhilesh Yadav, Yogi Adityanath Madan Mohan Malaviya and Deendayal Upadhyaya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been elected twice to Parliament from UP's Varanasi.

There are two international airports in UP at Lucknow and Varanasi, while three at Kushinagar, Jewar and Ayodhya are under construction. UP is also home to the Ganga, Yamuna and Gomti rivers. Some of the top tourist destinations in UP are the Agra Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Triveni Sangam, Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Ram Janmabhoomi among others. The languages most commonly spoken are Hindi, Urdu, Awadhi and Bundle.

Punjab:

Punjab is know as the state of five rivers( Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas) and it is the only state with a majority of Sikh people. Punjab also shares a border with Pakistan and it is most famous for its fertile soil as a result of which it is known as Golden Harvests. The official language is Punjabi and Chandigarh, a Union Territory is both the capital of Punjab and Haryana.

The Punjab legislature has 117 seats and there are 13 MPs that are elected from this state. The current CM of Punjab is Charanjit Singh Channi, while the first was Gopi Chand Bhargava. Some of the famous political leaders from Punjab are Manmohan Singh, Captain Amarinder Singh, Prakash Singh Badal, Inder Kumar Gujral, Navjot Singh Siddhu, Giani Zail Singh, Beant Singh among others.

While Punjab has a diverse culture, it has also been witnessed to bloody movements due to the Khalistan movement in the 1980s. It was the combination of then chief minister, Beant Singh and state police chief K P S Gill which completely eradicated militancy from the state.

The land of Bhangra (dance form) is also home to the iconic Golden Temple. The state also houses the Jallianwala Bagh memorial. The other places to visit are the Wagah Border, Bathinda Fort, Tara Taran Sahib, Rambagh Garden and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum.

The modern India Punjab came into existence on October 31 1966 when Himachal Pradesh and Haryana were carved out. Before partition in 1947, Punjab was a large state under the British. After partition, Punjab was divided int Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab.

Punjab has an area of 50,362 sq km and is the 20th largest state in the country, With a population of around 27 million, it is the 16th most populous state in the country.

Uttarakhand

State politics in India have always witnessed an interplay of primordial factors like caste and religion in elections. Elections in Uttarakhand were recently held on February 14.

The state has seen its share of tumultuous political developments in 2021. Since the state was carved out of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh in 2000, there's a poll myth that the incumbent government never wins a second term.

The state has witnessed a record ten chief ministers, beginning with Nityanand Swami to the current BJP incumbent Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Over the last three elections, the myth of the sitting Chief Minister not being able to become an MLA has become so strong that this time there is a lot of curiosity about the fate of the incumbent CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, who is contesting from Khatima seat.

However, giving three chief ministers to the state within five years and bringing about political instability despite a big mandate is another factor that may eclipse the BJP's chances.

It remains to be seen if the BJP will be able to break the trend of the state not repeating a government. Also, the arrival of the Aam Aadmi Party on the political scene in the hill state has made the larger contest as well as those for individual seats more unpredictable.

Also, the latest announcement by Dhami of implementing the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand is being viewed as another step in the direction of greater polarisation of state politics.

Goa

The tenure of Goa Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 15 March 2022. The previous assembly elections were held in February 2017. After the election, a coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party, Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party formed the state government, with Manohar Parrikar becoming the Chief Minister.

In 2022, Goa saw a multi-cornered contest with BJP, Trinamool Congress, AAP and Congress in fray.

According to the 2011 census, out of about 15 lakh people in goa, 66% are Hindus, 25% are Christians, and about 8.5% are Muslims. In the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress won 17 seats, BJP 13, Independents won 3, GFP 3. Aam Aadmi Party, which tested political waters in Goa for the first time, failed to win even a single seat.

In terms of voteshare in 2017, BJP got 33% of the votes polled, while Congress cornered 29%.

After independence from Portuguese rule in 1961, the politics of Goa was largely confined to regional/local parties.

India's smallest state has a diverse population of many religions & communities. According to the 2011 census, out of about 15 lakh people in goa, 66% are Hindus, 25% are Christians, and about 8.5% are Muslims.

Goa's electorate has grown by more than 45,000 persons over a period of five years, with women outnumbering men by 31,460.

The assembly constituency of Vasco continues to have the highest number of voters in the state with 35,139 persons. The smallest constituency in terms of voters is Mormugao, with 19,958 voters.

Manipur

• Manipur has 60 constituencies, Out of which 40 are in the valley and 20 in the hills. Magic figure for any party to form the government in Manipur is 31.
• The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its two estranged allies -- National People's Party (NPP) and Naga People's Front (NPF) -- fought the elections to the 60-seat Manipur Assembly separately.
• In the hill region of the state mostly Christian population is there and rest of the parts have majority of Hindus.
• Development, militancy, illegal trade of drugs, repeal of the AFSPA, women's empowerment, rising unemployment and corruption are the main issues highlighted by the political parties in their campaign.
• Major points on which election is fought this year are revoking law Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), water scarcity in the state.