The election for five states Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand , Goa and Manipur Assemblies, which have been considered as ‘Mini India’, would be held in February and March.
These elections will be a litmus test to the performance of the Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government and his demonetization policy which shook the country for over two months with the scarcity of currency notes.
The dates for holding of elections have been announced by the Election Commission. The polls will be staggered over a month starting from February 4 and will end on March 7. The counting will be on March 11.
Three of the states – Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa – will have single phase elections; Manipur is to have two phases while election in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases. Uttart Prdesh has the highest number of 403 assembly seats in the country.