BJP upbeat, says SP-Congress will be wiped out

Delhi/Allahabad/Lucknow: Eyeing the political throne of Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday expressed confidence, saying that the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress would be wiped out in the assembly elections. "The BJP is going to form government with two-third majority. The Samajwadi Party and BSP will be wiped out," Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya told ANI. He further said that the Congress has no existence in Uttar Pradesh, adding that the Samajwadi Party would be vanished from the state. Commenting on the curtain still laid upon the name of the chief ministerial candidate, Maurya said it would be decided by the leadership and known to people once the results are out. Echoing similar sentiments, BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said the saffron party would form the government in the state with full majority. Before leaving for the counting venue, Singh went to the Sai temple near his residence to seek blessings. On the other hand, Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chaudhary asserted that the state would witness Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance. "The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance will win today and we will expose the people who were conspiring against the Chief Minister," he said. The counting across the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur began at 8 a.m. this morning. The Election Commission has issued guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes, and has also set up facilities for disseminating trends and results of elections of five assemblies. In Uttar Pradesh, counting will take place in 78 centres across 75 districts. The Chief Electoral officer reviewed preparations for counting of votes through video conferencing. In Uttarakhand, counting of votes will be held at 15 centres across the state. To avoid any controversy, the counting process will be video graphed, while in Manipur, the counting of votes for 60-member Assembly will be taken up at eleven centres.