(FE)
Results for the five states, including Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections, are due today. Touted as the semifinal before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the outcome of these elections will be seen as a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and his reforms agenda. The results of Uttar Pradesh will have a bearing on the country’s political landscape. The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh is hoping to stop the BJP juggernaut, which had earlier stumbled in Bihar and Delhi, and lead the way for opposition unity in the run up to the 2019 General Elections. Congress is claiming it will wrest power in Punjab and retain its hold in Uttarakhand and Manipur. The election is also important for the nascent Aam Aadmi Party, which is hoping for success in its maiden outing in assembly elections outside Delhi and has put up a spirited fight in Punjab and Goa. The Election Commission has issued strict guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes and has prohibited mobile phones inside the counting halls. Exit polls have projected a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh and Goa, with BJP likely to lead the table. They forecast a close fight in Punjab between the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP.
