Day of reckoning in three states, counting begins

THE DECIDER: Exit polls have predicted a dead heat in Punjab and a BJP win in Uttarakhand.

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New Delhi: The people's verdict in three Congress-ruled states will be known as votes polled for the Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur Assemblies are counted on Tuesday.

The Electronic Voting Machines opened at 0800 hrs and the results are expected within a few hours. The counting for bypolls to Amritsar (Punjab) and Tehri (Uttarakhand) Lok Sabha seats will also take place on Tuesday.

In Punjab, the election was the first of its kind. Issues which dominated the campaign this time were industrial development and jobs but at what cost.

Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh faces anti-incumbency in Majha and Doaba areas but BT cotton and the religious sect of Dera Sacha Sauda seem to have come to his aid in the Malwa belt of southern Punjab.

It's a close contest, eighty-one-year old Shiromani Akali Dal leader, Parkash Singh Badal is still in the race.

In Uttarakhand, the BJP hopes to profit from the Congress anti-incumbency and the exit of chief minister, Narain Dutt Tewari from state politics.

It's not just a simple battle between BJP and Congress. There is also a skirmish between Kumaon and Garhwal identities and a war of words over uneven development between the plains and the hills.

The Manipur Assembly is of immense significance this year as the Congress is facing a reunited Manipur People's Party.

In Naga areas, the United Naga Council has put up eleven nominees and it's going to be a referendum on the Armed Force Special Powers Act and the territorial integrity of Manipur.

The Hindustan Times-CNN-IBN exit poll
	A close fight in Punjab with the Congress is likely to win 50 to 60 seats.
	The Akali Dal-BJP combine too is expected to win 59 to 60 seats.
	Other parties may win three to nine seats.
	In Uttarakhand, the ruling Congress is expected to win 21 to 27 seats.
	The BJP is projected to win 33 to 39 seats.
	Other parties could win eight to 12 seats. The Congress clearly on the backfoot there. But some other exit polls have indicated a close fight there as well.
* Conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies forecast predicted