People stand in a queue to cast their vote in Varanasi during the last phase of state assembly election in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party is expected to retain control of India's most populous state after a month-long voting process ended on Monday, according to opinion polls.

Holding onto Uttar Pradesh (UP) would give a huge boost to Modi's hopes of winning a third straight term office in the 2024 general election and bolster his image as the most popular politician in the country in decades.

His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies are expected to win anywhere between 211 to 277 seats out of 403 in the state, a comfortable majority, according to four polls carried out for new channels.

Votes will be counted on Thursday.

The BJP and its allies won more than 300 seats in UP in the last state election five years ago.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is ahead in Punjab, the Congress is within striking distance of the majority mark in Uttarakhand, while Goa is again throwing up a hung Assembly, as per the ABP C-Voter exit Poll.

Arvind Kejriwal's AAP is way ahead of the Congress and Akali Dal in Punjab, as per the exit Poll.

AAP is projected to get 56 seats in the 117-member Punjab assembly, within kissing distance of the majority mark. The ruling Congress is slated to get 25 seats while the Akali Dal is projected to get 23 seats.

The X factor in Punjab elections is that a large number of marginal seats will be decisive.

In Uttarakhand, the Congress is very close to the majority mark and is projected to get 35 seats in the 70-member Assembly.

The ruling BJP is projected to get 29 seats. The others category in Uttarakhand is likely to get 5 seats of which 3 is likely for BSP.

The BJP is losing vote share by 5.7 per cent at 40.8 per cent, while the Congress is gaining the similar numbers at 39.3 per cent.

Goa is projected for a hung Assembly with no party or block getting a majority.

The ruling BJP is marginally ahead of Congress with 15 seats in the 40-member Assembly.

The Congress alliance is at 14 seats. The MGP is getting 7 seats and AAP is getting 3 seats in Goa, as per the exit Poll.

In Manipur, there is no clear verdict. The BJP is the single largest party at 25 seats in the 60-member Assembly, followed by Congress at 14 and NPP at 12.

Agencies