Congress setback in crucial India Uttar Pradesh polls

India's governing Congress party has suffered a major setback as votes are counted in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.

The regional Samajwadi Party appears headed for a landslide - it has won 194 seats and is leading in another 29. The state has 403 seats.

Congress also looks set to lose in Punjab, while it is engaged in a neck-and-neck contest in Uttarakhand state.

These polls are seen as a litmus test for national elections due by 2014.

They are also seen as a test for the Congress party-led central government, whose credibility has been eroded in recent months over a series of corruption allegations.

Manipur and Goa are the other states where counting is going on.

Blow to Congress

The most important of the state elections has been in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which has more than 200 million people.

Politics in the state has been dominated in recent years by Mayawati, a low-caste Dalit who heads the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and has had four terms as chief minister.

She has largely alternated in power with Mulayam Singh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi Party. It mainly represents the interests of a caste grouping called the Other Backward Classes.

With returns coming in from all the seats in the state, Samajwadi is on track to form a majority government - it has won 194 seats and is leading in 29 more. The ruling BSP is a distant second with 63 wins and leads in 17 seats.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 41 seats and is leading in six more, while the Congress party is leading in seven seats with 21 wins.

As the results came in, Samajwadi supporters danced in the street outside the party's headquarters in Lucknow, the state capital, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder.

Speaking to BBC Hindi's Ram Dutt Tripathi in Lucknow, Mr Yadav said: "The credit for our victory goes to the people, workers of the Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh [Mr Yadav's son and heir apparent]."

The 72-year-old Samajwadi Party leader, who is now expected to lead the government in the state, said he would "try to meet all the expectations of the voters".

He said the party's legislative board would meet on Wednesday to elect the new chief minister.

Speaking in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi took responsibility for his party's disappointing results.

The scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is widely tipped to be India's next prime minister. He was not running in the state polls, but had led campaigning for Congress in Uttar Pradesh.

"I led the campaign, so it's my responsibility, we fought well but the results are not that good," he said.

"Organisationally we are not where we should be in UP [Uttar Pradesh]... I think it will be a very good lesson for me, because I think it will make me think about things in a detailed way."

In Punjab, results have been declared for all 117 seats. The incumbent regional Shrimoni Akali Dal-BJP alliance has won with 68 seats beating Congress which has won 46 seats.

The race in Uttarakhand is neck-and-neck. The ruling BJP has won 28 seats and is leading in another three, while Congress has won 26 seats and is ahead in six. Uttarakhand has 70 seats.

In Goa, the BJP has won 20 seats and is leading in one while Congress has won nine seats. Goa has 40 seats.

Congress has won in the north-eastern state of Manipur where the party has got 42 of the total 60 seats.

The month-long elections were held in a total of 690 assembly seats and were staggered over a number of phases for security and logistical reasons.