Aware that the outcome of the UP polls would decide the tone of the 2019 general election, the BJP placed all its cards on the deck. (Representational image)

New Delhi: The stage is set for the final lap in the high-stakes seven-phase Uttar Pradesh elections. Reports emnating from ground zero so far indicate a close fight between the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance and the BJP. On the fate of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, opinions vary from one extreme to another: while one section of political pundits claim “Maya is no illusion”, others feel the BSP supremo will lag far behind in the race for the throne in Lucknow.

Of the 40 seats going to the polls on Wednesday, the SP is contesting 31 and the Congress the remaining nine. If the 2012 results are to be taken into consideration, the BJP will need a major swing of votes to make its mark. In 2012, of the 40 seats, the SP won 23, the BSP five, the BJP four, the Congress three, and the rest were won by others.

All eyes, however, are now on Varanasi, the home turf of  Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That all is not well for the BJP in Varanasi became clear with the PM not only camping there three days but also holding two roadshows in his home constituency.

Aware that the outcome of the UP polls would decide the tone of the 2019 general election, the BJP placed all its cards on the deck. The BJP, which had initially decided to stick to the development plank, shifted to the politics of polarisation, bellicose nationalism and religion. A top BJP leader noted that while speaking at Varanasi’s Town Hall, the PM had begun his speech with the chant of “Har Har Mahadev”. The Congress had claimed that invoking Lord Shiva before starting an election speech was a “violation of the model code of conduct, since the EC had clearly cautioned against invoking religious sentiments to seek votes”. On Tuesday, BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain claimed that the “SP has already lost the elections”.

The SP-Congress alliance is, on the other hand, banking on “youth power”, as well as Muslim and Yadav consolidation. Stressing the age factor, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said in Jaunpur on Tuesday: “We will form a government of young people. Age has caught up with Modi. He has become an old man. Age is showing its impact on him.”

Besides Varanasi, the prominent areas going to the polls on Wednesday are Naxal-affected districts that include Chandauli and Sonbhadra.

Other prominent areas where voting will be held are Ghazipur, Jaunpur and Bhadoi.

In the Naxal-affected areas like Sonebhadra, voting will be from 7 am to 4 pm. Extra security arrangements have been made to conduct polling in these “red zones”.