NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW/PANAJI : With the results of Assembly elections to five states set to be out on Thursday, political parties are preparing to deal with various post-poll scenarios, including possible poaching attempts by rivals.
In Goa, the Congress has moved all its 37 candidates to an undisclosed location in the state’s south. The party has charged the president of its Karnataka unit, DK Shivakumar, to ensure that all its elected members stay united and in one place.
“We have learned a lot from the 2017 fiasco. We do not want to repeat it. We wanted to be doubly sure, therefore, all precautionary measures have been taken by shifting all 37 candidates to a resort. Their location has not been shared with anyone,” said a senior Congress leader.
“All candidates will stay together in the common venue in the spirit of camaraderie and ward off the dirty politics of the BJP,” he said.
In Uttarakhand, the ruling BJP began fielding its leaders to deal with a situation wherein the party is short of a majority.
Meanwhile, Congress has sent a dozen leaders to counter any attempts by the saffron camp to poach its MLAs as well as independent candidates.
“We are ready to counter any mischievous move by the BJP,” a Congress leader said.
In Uttar Pradesh, three officials were removed from election duty on Wednesday, a day after the Samajwadi Party alleged electronic voting machines were being shifted in an unauthorised manner.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav shot off a letter to the Election Commission seeking webcasting of the counting process.
Will get MGP’s support: BJP
BJP’s Goa chief Devendra Fadnavis said his party was confident of getting the support of former ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) as both the parties are “ideologically aligned”.
Fadnavis, also said that although his party will win an absolute majority in the coastal state