CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party got a three-fourths majority in the assembly polls in Punjab, bagging 42 per cent of the votes cast -- an increase of 18 percentage points over the 2017 elections.
The AAP, which turned out to be the single largest party, by bagging 92 seats in the 117-member assembly completely outclassed traditional players like the Congress, BJP, SAD and BSP.
The AAP's vote share was 42.01 per cent as against 23.7 per cent in the 2017 assembly polls, according to the data available with the Election Commission website.
While the Congress saw a sharp decline in party's vote share, the vote percentage of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) fell by around 7 per cent.
Congress candidates won 18 seats, making it the second largest party, to register a vote share of 22.98 per cent as against 38.5 per cent it got in 2017.
In 2017, the party won 77 assembly seats and formed the government.
Both BJP and SAD had a dismal show at the hustings with the parties winning two and three seats, respectively.
SAD's vote share fell from 25.2 per cent in 2017 to 18.38 per cent in 2022.
The party was relegated to third position after winning 15 seats in 2017 after a rule of 10 years.
However, in 2022, the party had a dismal show with only three seats in its kitty.
The BJP may have performed poorly along with its alliance partners Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt) in the 2022 polls, but its vote share increased in the state.
From a vote share of 1.5 per cent, the BJP showed a marginal rise with 1.77 per cent.
However, the party's tally fell from three to two in 2022.
Punjab recorded a poll percentage of 71.95 on February 20.
All set to form a majority government for the second time in a row in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has managed to increase its vote share despite a loss of over 50 seats from its tally of 2017.
The BJP had won 312 of the 384 seats contested by it in the 2017 assembly elections and its vote share was 39.67 per cent.
Till 9.30 pm, the BJP had won 216 seats and was leading in 39 others with a vote share of 41.4 per cent, according to the Election Commission of India website.
Going by this, the BJP is expected to get 255 seats this time around which will be a loss of 57 seats when compared to its 2017 tally, even as the party's vote share has increased.
With a second consecutive victory, the BJP has also repeated history as the feat was last achieved 37 years ago by the Congress.
In 1985, the Congress had formed its majority government for two successive terms.
The BJP had fought the election in alliance with Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nirbal Indian Social Hamara Apna Dal (NISHAD Party).
It had contested 376 seats on its own while leaving the remaining for its allies.
It had given 17 seats to Apna Dal (S), which contested on its own symbol, while out of the 16 seats given to the NISHAD party, 10 candidates fought on its own symbol and the remaining on BJP symbol.
In 2017, the BJP had given 11 seats to Apna Dal (s) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) led by Omprakash Rajbhar.
SBSP this time was a part of the Samajwadi Party-led alliance and has won three seats while leading on another three.
Apna Dal (S) led by Anupriya Patel has won nine seats and is leading on three others while the NISHAD party has bagged five seats and is leading on one.
Nearly eight lakh voters, who exercised their franchise in the five states which went to assembly polls, used the 'none of the above' or NOTA option, according to data available on the Election Commission website.
In Manipur, out of the total voters, 10,349 or 0.6 per cent used the NOTA option.
Similarly in Goa, 10,629 voters (1.1 per cent) used the option.
In Uttar Pradesh, which has the maximum number of 403 assembly seats, 621,186 voters or 0.7 per cent used the NOTA option.
In Uttarakhand, those who pressed the NOTA button EVMs stood at 46,830 (0.9 per cent).
In Punjab, 110,308 voters (0.9 per cent) went for NOTA.
The total stands at 799,302 voters in all the five states.
The 'NOTA' option on electronic voting machines, introduced in 2013, has its own symbol -- a ballot paper with a black cross across it.
After the Supreme Court order in September 2013, the EC added the NOTA button on the EVMs as the last option on the voting panel.
Prior to the apex court order, those not inclined to vote for any candidate had the option of registering their decision under Rule 49-O (elector deciding not to vote) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.
But this compromised the secrecy of the voter.
The Supreme Court had, however, refused to direct the Election Commission to hold fresh polls if the majority of the electorate exercises the NOTA option while voting.