January 30,2012 is a crucial day for Congress as voting is underway in Punjab and Uttarakhand to elect new assemblies .The elections will decide the future of Congress and the Rahul Gandhi
After an aggressive campaign by Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Congress is hoping to oust SAD-BJP combine government from Punjab .
Taking a different approach from its tradition , Congress announced Capt Amarinder singh as its Chief ministerial candidate in Punjab before the elections . This announcement was made to check the factional vioces as state CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal was also aspiring for the top post.
Although there is a close fight between Akali Dal and the Congress as both are claiming to form the next government in Punjab but the key to electoral victory in the state lies in the hands of smaller parties like PPP,Bahujan Samaj Party and the most important factor Dera Sacha sauda .
Dera has a strong influence in Malwa region that is spread across nine districts with 65 Assembly seats which holds the key to power while the other regions of the state have fewer seats ie Doaba has 25 and Majha has 27 seats in the 117 seat Assembly.
According to sources ,Dera is going to support congress in 100 seats and SAD in eight seats.The rebels from both the major parties Congress and SAD will play spoilsport at some constituencies in the elections as rebels are fighting in about 45 seats .
Dera Sacha Sauda, which had openly backed the state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh in the 2007 Assembly polls. In the last polls, the Congress, despite sweeping the Malwa region with Dera's support, had lost the elections as Punjab voted for change .
It seems Congress is on the upper hand in Punjab due to the alleged corruption in governance and the non-performance of the Akali Dal-BJP alliance and the anti-incumbency factor added to it ..
Well, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party will cut the traditional Congress vote base .The other smaller parties PPP and left parties under the Sanjha Morcha alliance is also expected to affect both the Akali and the Congress vote banks.
The Akalis are fighting against anti-incumbency factor and the support of Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim-led Dera Sacha Sauda also play a crucial role in formation of the new government .During campaigning, Akali's made development and progress its main poll plank and shunned its old agendas like religious or water agreements .
The ruling SAD-BJP alliance, the Congress and BSP are contesting all the 117 Assembly seats. Newly-formed Punjab People's Party floated by the outgoing Manpreet Badal, is contesting 92 while SAD (Amritsar) headed by former IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann is contesting 57 seats.
In Uttarakhand
Over 63 lakh will decide the fate of 788 candidates in these elections where the ruling BJP is locked in a close fight against Congress.Both the main parties BJP and Congress are contesting all the 70 seats.
The elections will also decide the fate of top state leaders including Chief Minister B C Khanduri from Kotdwar, former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from Doiwala,the leader of opposition Harak Singh Rawat from Rudraprayag and PCC chief Yashpal Arya from Baajpur seats.
Congress attacked BJP over alleged scams that had taken place during the tenure of former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. and during the campaigning raked up iisues like Godhra carnage , scams like Kargil coffins,Dilip Judeo, Shaila Masood murder case, Bangaru Laxman bribery and other such scams through local media in the hill state.
On the other hand, the ruling BJP continued its campaign "Khanduri hai Zaroori" asking the people to retain the ruling party.To counter the Congress campaign, BJP highlighted scams under Congress like Commonwealth Games and Adarsha society scam and the alleged Bofors scam where it said the Swedish government paid a kickback of Rs 64 crore to clinch the gun deal during the then Rajiv Gandhi government.
