Opinion and commentary

The Uttar Pradesh elections present much of a challenge for pollsters in divining parties’ fortunes, particularly since there seems to be no strong ‘wave’ in favour of anyone. The BJP’s poor performance in the Panchayat polls, coupled with the ripples created by Samajwadi Party (SP) and others, particularly in Western Uttar Pradesh, have forced commentators to admit that it is not going to be a cakewalk as the Chief Minister and his party would have hoped.