New stars in poll galaxy

New stars in poll galaxy

It’s over to 1.97 crore voters in Punjab who will decide the fate of the four main political stakeholders in the fray.
As many as 93.09 lakh women, 1.04 crore men and 380 of the third gender will be exercising their franchise on February 4 in 117 Assembly segments of the state to decide who will rule the state for the next five years.
At play will be Sukhbir Badal’s strategy vs Capt Amarinder Singh’s appeal (coupled with Prashant Kishor’s vote-garnering mechanics) vs Arvind Kejriwal’s aggression.
The people of Punjab will witness one of the most unique and diverse political battles in its history. What is extraordinary about this election is that people from diverse fields such as sports, performing arts, Army, bureaucracy and films are trying their luck, which in earlier years used to be dominated by the run-of-the-mill politicians.
The ruling Akali-BJP alliance will be challenged not just by its traditional rival — the Congress — but also the Aam Aadmi Party, making it a nail-biting contest.
Youth power to fore Another distinctive feature is the interest being shown by the younger generation in this poll. Besides it, this election will be introducing several new faces in the political arena.
There are so many who will make their debut in electoral politics via this poll. Of late, the political narrative in the state has changed with the old guard of politicians sharing cups of coffee with college students to impress them with their political agenda.
This is because the largest chunk (53 per cent) comprises voters between 18 and 39 years.
SAD-BJP eyes third term
the day that the state goes to the polls — will see whether the Akali-BJP alliance, battling 10-year-long anti-incumbency, can swing the voters in their favour for the third time by using their development card and playing Panthic politics.
The party had witnessed an all-time-low credibility, especially amongst its core Panthic voters, last year. Attempts by the ruling party to reverse the trend have been made and it has neutralised the Panthic voters, though it remains to be seen if they have returned to the party fold.
This is perhaps the first time that the father-son duo of CM Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal has tried to fight low credibility by fielding credible candidates, including 50 per cent new faces.
But whether the micro-management and social engineering, a forte of Sukhbir, will again work in this election will be known only when the results are declared on March 11.
For the BJP too, Punjab will be a litmus test to assess if it continues to enjoy the popularity over urban Hindu voters and to see if the Modi wave of the 2014 General Election would help the local leaders win.
Though the Akalis and state BJP leadership had hoped that a central package would be announced by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, it did not materialise.
Left to manage the show themselves, the past two months have seen the Akali-BJP regime make a spate of appointments from amongst its leaders — mainly placating dissidents who have been (in case of SAD) and who will be (for BJP which is yet to announce its candidates) denied party tickets.
Lot at stake for Oppn
For the two main Opposition parties — the Congress and AAP — there’s a lot more at stake.
The Congress, in spite of standing a good chance of making a comeback in national politics through the Punjab Assembly poll, is still trying to control dissidence arising out of ticket allotment.
The party’s state chief and likely chief ministerial candidate, Capt Amarinder Singh, too has staked his entire political career as the party high command has given him another opportunity to prove his mettle.
Despite getting good response from voters, the party is yet to decide on candidates in 40 Assembly seats. For the past five weeks, the party has been “missing in action” in the electoral battlefield with most leaders camping in Delhi — lobbying and waiting for the announcement of candidates.
On the other hand, AAP, which continues to be popular among youths, is looking forward to stake its claim to power in the state — a platform that it wants to use as a launch pad for its national ambitions.The party, which seemed to have a clear edge last year, seems to have been bogged down by breakaway groups and rebellion from within its rank and file.

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