As the juggernaut of the seven-part election rolls on to a close on March 8, all eyes are on Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state of more than 200 million. Were it a separate country, UP would be the sixth most populated in the world. The way the vote swings in the Hindi heartland will not only be a verdict on some of the titans of Indian politics —Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BSP supremo Mayawati and the relatively young duo of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi — but also have a decisive bearing on who rules India in 2019.
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