New Delhi: Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is trailing from Khatima in early trends as counting of votes began for the 70-member state assembly on Thursday.

Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Harish Rawat is also trailing, from the Lalkuwa assembly constituency. Ahead of the counting, Rawat exuded confidence of his party’s victory in the hill state and Punjab.

“We are winning on most of the seats and there is a close contest where we are trailing. In an hour, these leads will convert into a majority for the Congress in Uttarakhand and it will get a majority in Punjab as well,” Rawat had told ANI.

Dehradun | I am confident about the victory of the Congress party in Uttarakhand. Everything will be clear in the next 2-3 hours. I have faith in the people of the state. I believe Congress will get close to 48 seats: Former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat pic.twitter.com/MBHFmwnmGa

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 10, 2022

BJP is leading on 26 seats, while Congress is leading at 18. Bahujan Samaj Party is leading on two seats, as per the data on the Election Commission website.

The counting of votes for the recently held elections began at 8 am on Thursday, and the final result is expected to get clarity later in the day.

The exit polls on Monday predicted a close race in Uttarakhand, with many of them giving an edge to the BJP to form the government.

Some exit polls also predicted that Congress would cross the halfway mark in the 70-member Assembly.

Polling in Uttarakhand took place on February 14.