Close contests as Punjab, Uttarakhand vote

New Delhi: The 2012 polls are being called a mini-general election, not least because the crucial Uttar Pradesh votes in a few days from now. But today, two other important states, Punjab and Uttarakhand are voting in very close contests. In both states, the Congress is looking to uproot its main rival the BJP - in Punjab the latter is the minor partner in the Akali Dal-led government; Uttarakhand has a BJP government. (Uttarakhand Polls: Heavyweights | Key issues)

For the Congress, winning both Punjab and Uttarakhand is important. The UPA government, which the Congress leads at the Centre has suffered some serious image-battering all of last year and winning three of the five states that vote now is important to counter that damage, inflicted among other things, by the relentless anti-corruption campaign of Team Anna. The Congress would like to win Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur, which voted on Saturday, and do extremely well in Uttar Pradesh. A good performance in UP could also help in political realignment at the Centre - if it can win enough seats to have a say in government formation in UP, it will add new allies and could then depend less on troublesome allies like the Trinamool Congress for the rest of its term till the 2014 General Elections. (Punjab polls: Heavyweights | Key issues)

In Punjab, there is all the drama of a soap opera and the piece of trivia that no party has ever beaten anti-incumbency to come back for a second term in four decades. The Congress is counting on that. Parkash Singh Badal, the outgoing Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal chief hopes to change that and says, "We are definitely coming again. We have done so much for development and communal harmony in every field. What we have done in five years what Congress could not do in 50 years," he said today. (Punjab's constituencies)

Traditional rivals Congress and the Akali Dal battle each other as always, but also battle rebellion in their ranks. And the rebellion begins right in the backyard, with family feuds on both sides. If Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal of the Akali Dal have to contend with Manpreet Badal and Gurdas Badal, the Congress' Amarinder Singh, projected as the CM candidate by the Congress, has Malvinder Singh to counter.

The Congress is counting on Manpreet Badal - who was the Finance Minister till recently and broke away from the Akali Dal after a very public spat with cousin and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal - causing some upsets for the ruling family. Many seats have tough triangular contests between the SAD-BJP alliance, the Congress and the Sanjha Morcha, which includes the Left and Manpreet Badal's newly-floated People's Party of Punjab (PPP).

The Congress' Gulchain Singh Charak says his party is also banking on Dera support. "The Congress is hoping to get a lion's share of dalit votes in Doaba, with Dera Sach Khand deciding to support it," Mr Charak said.

For those who like to crunch numbers this is how it stacked up in 2007 in Punjab: The Akali Dal-BJP won 68 of the 117 seats with a 45% vote share; the Congress had 44 seats, but 41% of the vote share, which it hopes to substantially improve this time.

Nearly 10 per cent of around 1.76 crore voters cast their votes till 10 am in Punjab. The polling remained peaceful with no reports of violence, said special Electoral Officer Usha R Sharma. (Punjab polls: 10 per cent votes cast till 10 am)

In Uttarakhand, the Congress is counting on the issue of corruption hitting the ruling BJP hard. Hit by corruption charges, the BJP had removed Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank as Chief Minister in September last year to bring in BC Khanduri in a last-minute scramble to change image. Maj Gen (retd) Khanduri then had the benefit of vocal praise from Team Anna for what it calls a "model Lokayukta law", but analysts say he might have come in too late to save the BJP. (Polling begins in Uttarakhand amid tight security)

Gen Khanduri knows that. "One has to live with the facts of life, I have tried to full fill the mandate," is all he will say as the people of the state vote for 70 seats. Mr Khanduri himself has a tough battle at hand in Kotdwar, where he is pitted against the Congress' Surendra Singh Negi. Having said that, the Congress knows that Gen Khanduri's presence has altered the situation - Uttarakhand is no more a cakewalk for it. The Congress has also been battling factionalism in the state. (Uttarakhand's constituencies)

Manipur went to the polls on Saturday. Uttar Pradesh will see polling in seven phases from February 8 to March 3. Goa will vote on March 3. Votes in all five states will be counted March 6.