The upcoming assembly polls in five Indian States will be crucial for the presidential election expected to be held in mid-July.The results will decide the fate of 690 total assembly seats (MLAs) in five states and also of 19 Rajya Sabha seats (MPs) which are going to be vacant from three of the five states. As elected MLAs and MPs form the electoral college for the President’s election, alignment of regional parties will turn out to be the decider of whether BJP fails to gain majority in UP and Uttarakhand. The NDA had a comfortable lead in 2017 as BJP and its allies won 325 out of 403 assembly seats in UP and 57 out of 70 in Uttarakhand.
Currently, states/UT such as West Bengal, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi are being ruled by different opposition parties. This could tilt the balance in favour of the joint opposition candidate if they decide to field one for the presidential polls.UP is crucial in the presidential elections as it has the highest value of vote of each MLA due to its population.Under these circumstances, besides the results of 690 assembly seats in five states — UP’s 403; Punjab’s 117; Uttarakhand’s 70; Manipur’s 60 and Goa’s 40 — the RS composition will play an important role in electing the next President. (With inputs from TOI)
Source: Economic Times
