Poll bugle sounded

The Election Commission on Saturday announced the dates for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, setting the stage for a mini-general election which will mark a serious political test for Rahul Gandhi and may potentially provide a window of opportunity to Congress to reverse a pervasive perception of corruption and policy paralysis. The polls, which include seven-phase voting in UP, will begin on January 28 and end on March 3, with results coming a day later. Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi announced single-phase polls in Goa (March 3), Manipur (January 28), Punjab and Uttarakhand (January 30) while UP will see polling on February 4, 8, 11, 15, 19, 23 and 28. Two states each are ruled by NDA and Congress at present while the BSP commands UP. Saturday’s announcement ended the suspense over the poll schedule on which ride the fortunes of an embattled Congress. A favourable scoreline, minimum 3-2 with evidence of revival in its fallen fort of UP, would help reverse the Anna Hazare-induced inaction at the Centre while silencing the BJP, which is on the right side of the septuagenarian campaigner. It is a challenge for Rahul Gandhi who isleading the charge in UP. A successful outcome in UP will ensure that he is hailed as the party’s new mascot. It will also put him under pressure to lead the government, something he is averse to. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi recently spelt out the significance of the polls when she told the party’s poll managers that Team Anna must be countered electorally. The pollscape seems favourable for the Congress, with BJP on the backfoot in Uttarakhand and in Punjab. In UP, the party will be more than satisfied if it overtakes BJP’s tally, thus besting the saffron challenger once again after the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. That will dispel the perception of a slide, and help the party keep in good stead for the 2014 general elections. The bar for the party is set low in UP; a good jump on its 2007 score of 22 seats which will make it indispensable for SP to form a government. This would earn Congress the support of 23 SP MPs at the Centre, buffering UPA-2 from a whimsical Mamata Banerjee, and set it on course for revival in UP.