Illustration: Sandeep Joshi

Chandigarh, March 10

The stage is set for the counting of votes tomorrow to wrap up a staggered poll process in five states —  the biggest electoral contest ahead of the 2019 General Election — in what is largely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move.Early trends will start pouring in 8 am onwards for Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, where thousands of central forces have been deployed at the counting centres.In Punjab, counting at 54 centres for the 117 Assembly and the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency will begin simultaneously. Punjab, that went to the polls on February 4, saw a turnout of 77.3 per cent, with Mansa district recording 88.75 per cent polling, the highest, and Mohali 71.2 per cent, the lowest. The CEO, VK Singh said other than the observers, micro observers have been deployed at counting stations.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Pollsters have predicted the fall of the ruling SAD-BJP  with the Congress and AAP neck and neck. But the Akalis debunk the exit polls as biased. In the past, it had been a direct fight between the Congress and the SAD-BJP. But AAP, that has made its maiden foray in the state elections, has made the fight a triangular one.The most interesting battle is in Lambi where CM Parkash Singh Badal is pitted against Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh and AAP’s former Delhi MLA Jarnail Singh. Equally interesting is the fight for the Jalalabad seat where Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal faces a challenge from AAP’s firebrand leader Bhagwant Mann and Congress MP Ravneet Bittu.  A win in Punjab will resurrect Congress’ political fortunes, losing the elections may sound its death knell in the state. For AAP, a defeat would be a setback to its national ambitions. The party has set sights on the PM’s home state of Gujarat.SAD-BJP has been in power for 10 years. A defeat may see the end of the alliance. Already there are murmurs in the BJP that the Akalis must take the entire blame for the “failure”. — TNS

Quotes

• Our alliance is winning (in Uttar Pradesh). Such exit polls we saw in Bihar also. We will talk on Saturday —Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president
• The BJP has got votes from every section of society. We are going to form the government in UP with a thumping majority. — Keshav Prasad Maurya, UP BJP chief
• History is in the making. We will form the next government after registering a landslide victory.Bad days for Punjab and its people are over —Durgesh Pathak, national organisation building head, AAP
• Kaale Badal chhatne wale hain…aur surya nikalne wala hai (Black clouds are set to dissipate and new sun will rise) —Navjot Singh Sidhu, Congress candidate from Amritsar East