Later today, the Election Commission will release the polling date for Punjab and four other states

At 3.30 p.m. on Saturday, the Election Commission will issue poll schedules for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur.

Apart from the dates, the EC will reveal the Covid protocols that political parties must follow during the elections, with the poll body expected to assign political parties the responsibility of following the protocols on their own and prohibiting physical rallies.

The election declaration comes on the same day as the WHO urged countries to do everything possible to halt the spread of Covid, with India reporting 1,41,786 new cases.

The elections are critical for the ruling BJP, which will defend its administrations in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur in order to boost its chances in the general election of 2024.

The Congress will strive for political relevance after being left in power only in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh on its own, as well as in Maharashtra through an alliance.

The Aam Aadmi Party will put its strength to the test outside of Delhi, with candidates running in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Goa.

The outcome of the elections will determine which way the wind is blowing for the BJP, which was forced to abolish the three farm laws due to pressure from farmers across the country, particularly in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

The BJP government had clearly detected mounting discontent, which may have hampered its political hopes in Uttar Pradesh since its representatives were unable to campaign in villages in western UP.

The BJP is hoping to reclaim lost political ground after Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a public apology while announcing the decision to scrap the agriculture laws.

In the 2017 UP elections, the BJP won 312 seats and 325 seats with allies, the first time any party had won such a large majority since 1977.

The SP has teamed up with the RLD and minor parties this time, notably Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which teamed up with the Congress in 2017 and managed only 47 seats with the Congress down to seven.

The SP and RLD are hoping to mount a huge campaign in Uttar Pradesh, particularly in western UP, where the impact of farmers' protest and fury against the BJP was visible till recently.

“If you want to see Modi as PM in 2024, make Yogi Adityanath the CM in 2022,” Retaining Uttar Pradesh is crucial for the BJP in order to win the general election in 2024, which is why Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently reminded the state voters.

In Punjab, the Congress, which won 77 seats under Amarinder Singh in 2022, is in the midst of a high-stakes election with no candidates listed yet, while opponents SAD and AAP have named the majority of the candidates.

The ongoing tug of war between Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Sidhu, as well as the aggressive BJP pitch on the recent lapse in the Prime Minister's security in the state, will be key factors to watch in Punjab, where the AAP has yet to name its CM candidate, with Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann a frontrunner.

The reaction of former Congress veteran and disgraced CM Amarinder Singh's new party, Punjab Lok Congress, would be as important.

For the state elections, Singh has teamed up with the BJP and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

Kejriwal said, “Once the CM face is announced election campaign should lift and not sag.”

The Congress is seeking to make a comeback in Uttarakhand, where the BJP won 57 seats to the Congress's 11, while the BJP defends its rule after appointing three chief ministers in five years.

The contest will be interesting in Goa and Manipur, where the Congress was the single largest party in 2017 polls only to lose ground to the BJP.

Following a series of defections from Congress, the BJP has formed governments in both states.