Pick your horses in five elections

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP went into the election without the face of a leader... Congress will be the winner. In MP, the prize may go to the party with a stronger organisation and better booth management skills. In Rajasthan, the post-election drama promises to be more interesting than the election race. We may expect a surprise in Telangana. The result in Mizoram will not have a national impact

AS I SIT down to write this column, it is Thursday, November 30, the day of polling in Telangana, the last of the five states electing a new state Assembly. You will read it on Sunday, December 3, the day of counting in all the states, except Mizoram, where it has been deferred to December 4. This period falls between the day of hope for all and the day of despair for all but one! The stakes are high for the Congress which is in play in all the five states.

The BJP is in play in only three states where it is in direct contest with the Congress Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Its fortunes have rapidly declined in Telangana resulting in a direct contest between the BRS (the incumbent) and the Congress. In Mizoram, the principal players are the two regional parties, MNF (the incumbent) and ZPM. Given the past record, the Congress is a third player, the BJP is a pretender.

The issues The long shadow of price rise and unemployment has fallen on the elections. Mr Modi avoided both but the Congress hammered away on both subjects. The Congress' guarantees, following the successful model tried in Karnataka, were powerful weapons. The promise of a caste survey set the cat among the pigeons. Mr Modi's sole plank was corruption. While the results of the state elections are important, we may not over-interpret the results as a forerunner to the national election. The lessons of 2018 and 2019 are fresh in everyone's mind.