Counting of votes to begin at 8 amNew Delhi: The stage is set for Assembly election results for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur. The counting of votes will begin at 8 am. While postal ballots will be counted first, Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) will be counted 8.30 am onwards- the Election officials said on Wednesday.The Election Commission on Wednesday said that elaborate arrangements have been put in place for counting of votes on March 10 in 690 Assembly constituencies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh and by-poll to Assam’s Majuli.In Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state with 403 Assembly seats, exit polls have projected a comfortable win for the BJP. The Election Commission (EC) has deployed heavy security across the state to ensure a smooth counting process.SP blames EVMs in UP But blame-game has already started in UP much before the announcement of actual results. With the exit poll results in BJP’s favour, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the Yogi Adityanath government in the state has been ‘stealing’ EVMs to manipulate election results. The EC suspended Varanasi ADM after Yadav’s allegations and also directed the officials to take strict action against ‘rumour-mongers’. BJP hit out at Akhilesh Yadav saying that people of UP have not backed SP.Congress to hold first legislative meeting on ThursdayIn 117-seater Punjab Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to overthrow the existing Congress government in the state. Staring at a potential debacle, Congress has called for a legislative party meeting on Thursday evening. “It has been decided that the First Congress Legislative Party meeting will be held on 10th March at PPCC office (Congress Bhawan, Sector 15, Chandigarh) at 5 PM. All newly elected Punjab Congress MLAs are requested to attend,” said Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.BJP, Congress rush senior leaders to UttarakhandIn Uttarakhand, where the exit polls have predicted a close contest between the BJP and Congress, both the parties have rushed senior party leaders to move strings in case of a fractured mandate. While BJP has rushed Kailash Vijayvargiya, Ramesh Pokhriyal, and Pralhad Joshi to Uttarakhand, Congress has sent MP Deepender Singh Hooda to the hill state. According to a Times Now-Veto poll, BJP may bag 37 seats, while Congress may win 31 seats. The halfway mark in 70-seater Uttarakhand Assembly is 36.Resort politics begins in GoaGoa too is likely to witness swift post-poll maneuvers as Congress has already moved its MLAs to a luxury resort. Party also rushed Karnataka congress chief DK Shivakumar to Goa to make quick decisions in case of a hung Assembly. Party veteran and former finance minister P Chidambaram is also in Goa to discuss post-poll strategies. BJP has also organized a post-poll meeting on Thursday after the counting of votes.BJP poised to win in ManipurIn Manipur, the exit polls have given a clear edge to the ruling BJP followed by Congress. Elections for the 60-seater Manipu Assembly took place on February 28 and March 5.