Politicians start gearing up for 2017 assembly polls

Politicians start gearing up for 2017 assembly polls

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Thursday, 9 June 2016 AT 09:38 PM IST

    

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CAMIL PARKHE, gearing up, 2017 assembly polls, Politicians, News-plus

Even before the newly elected governments were recently formed in five states in the country, political parties have launched their campaigns for another round of polls in five other states where elections will be held early in 2017. The term of the present state assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur will expire in March 2017. Having experienced the most high-tech and well planned election campaigns of various parties in the recent years, people in the country can now brace themselves for yet another high-pitched electoral battle.

Of these, election in Uttar Pradesh will be the most crucial for the BJP, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and also, the Congress. This is because the poll outcome in this country’s largest state will also have a bearings on the 2019 general elections. The BJP could come to power at the Centre on its own because this state has elected 71 of total 80 MPs from this state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have already sounded the bugle for the 2017 polls in this state. Shah has clarified that the UP polls will be contested on the development plank and that Ram temple will not be on the party’s poll agenda.

Unlike others states, where the polls are contested between two major parties or fronts, in Uttar Pradesh, it will be multi-polar contest. The popularity of the ruling Samajwadi Party is said to be on the wane while Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party expects to be benefited by this.

The BJP, on the other hand, has also expressed confidence of forming the next government in the state. Union Human Resources Minister Smriti Irani, who hails from the state, is said to be the top contender for the party’s chief ministerial candidate for this state. The Congress has roped in master poll strategist Prashant Kishor to improve its poll fortunes in the  the state where it has had no significant presence for the past few decades.

In Goa, for the first time, a newcomer is attempting to challenge the traditional political parties. Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been working hard for the past few months to woo the voters. AAP volunteers from Maharashtra and elsewhere have been camping in this tiny state. AAP hopes to provide an alternate to the voters who are disappointed with both the ruling group BJP and the opposition Congress.

The Shiv Sena, too, has declared its intention to contest over 20 of the total 40 assembly seats. The party has already appointed MP Sanjay Raut as the in-charge of Goa polls. The Shiv Sena’s entry into the Goa poll arena is expected to be at the cost of BJP, its partner in governments at the Centre and Maharashtra.

Punjab has experienced a change of guard in each subsequent assembly elections and the Congress is hoping to encash votes due to anti-incumbency factor against the ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance. But here, too, the AAP has emerged as a major contender for power. AAP workers have been working in this state for over two years.

Uttarakhand, presently ruled by the Congress, was in the news for many weeks following rebellion by nine Congress MLAs and persistent unsuccessful attempts by the Centre to impose President’s rule in the state. The return of Harish Rawat government in the state following the Supreme Court’s interventions has indeed offered a respite to the besieged Congress.

The forthcoming election will witness a battle between the Congress and BJP to win majority in the 70-member state assembly.
Manipur will be another north-eastern state where the BJP will be working hard to improve its position. The party’s morale has been boosted with its debut in the state assembly when it won two seats in bypolls last year. Like Uttarakhand, in Manipur, too, the Congress faces a tough task to retain the power.