Demonetisation will be the central issue in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh as the political parties have been facing the cash crunch for garnering votes and contact with people. The radical move to remove the impact of black money in elections and push the country onto the digital economy track which has not come out of its ‘birth pains’ will surely have its shadow on the political outcome. Since then, several roadblocks on account of poor planning, mismanagement and, to some degree, rushed implementation, have put the ruling party at the Centre on the back foot. Demonetisation has overshadowed all other election issues that had caught the attention of the masses. Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would be a happy man as the internal rift in his party has been somewhat forgotten amid the crisis caused by the cash ban and the subsequent cash crunch. Voters have understandably become disenchanted with family feuds in the political space. SP will have to pull a rabbit out of the hat if it aims to win the elections on its own. SP’s chances to return to power will rest in a strong coalition that beats odds out of expectation. Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati was looking like a frontrunner in the election runup. The former Chief Minister of UP was seen to be benefitting from the anti-incumbency in the state. Both the parties have now got an issue to counter the BJP which was making inroads into the state. BJP’s gamble of demonetisation just before the elections would pay off massively or hit it hard. From Parliament to the election grounds of Uttar Pradesh, Congress Cice President Rahul Gandhi has continued his attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are reports that farmers have sold off their crops for peanuts and the new crop is also expected to be hit because of the cash crunch. In such a scenario, it will depend massively on how Modi manages to retain his core constituency. Similar developments are also expected in poll-bound Punjab as well. But, it will likely be laced with religious overtones with the ruling SAD-BJP alliance exploiting the sentimental issue of access to Sikh shrines in Pakistan.
