It's PUNJAAP, BJP Scores 4/5; "2022 Has Decided 2024," Says PM

The BJP won 255 of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh, with the Samajwadi Party, its main challenger, a distant second with 111 seats, election results show. The BJP's consecutive win in Uttar Pradesh is a record – no party has won two elections in a row in nearly 40 years.

Arvind Kejriwal's AAP had a landslide victory in Punjab, winning 92 of the state's 117 seats. The Congress won just 18, the Akalis four and the BJP two seats.

The BJP won Manipur too, with 32 of the state's 60 seats and is heading for a comfortable victory in Uttarakhand with 47 of 70 seats. In Goa, the party touched the halfway mark with 20 seats and declared that it will form government with the support of three Independents.

Trinamool Congress ally Sudhin Dhavalikar – who once vowed never to partner the BJP – has also offered support to the BJP, taking the party's strength to 25 in the 40-seat Goa assembly.

In the evening, congratulating party workers for the victory, Prime Minister Narendra  Modi said, "The 2024 general election result can be glimpsed in the result of the 2022 UP election

This round of elections further shrunk the political space of the Congress. The party not only lost Punjab, one of the three states it ruled, but also lost its dominant position in Goa and Manipur, where it emerged as the single largest party in 2017.

In Manipur, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma's NPP (National People's Party) has emerged as the second largest party, pushing Congress to the third position. The Janata Dal United, which contested in the state after years, won six seats.

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has expanded its footprint in Goa, making its debut with three seats. Mr Kejriwal made it clear that his party hopes to emerge nationally as an alternative to the Congress.

In his victory speech, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, "We believe in Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwaas. The people have seen this and… taken a stand to defeat 'parivaarvaad', 'vanshwaad', mafia-waad".

 In Punjab, most of the Congress stalwarts including party chief Navjot Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi lost. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who formed his own party after leaving the Congress, lost as well. So did Akali Dal's Sukhbir Badal.