While Uttar Pradesh remains the biggest bet for leading national parties in the ongoing assembly elections in five states, it is Punjab that has emerged as a sharp battleground. Punjab is a defending game for the Congress, with adversaries ranging from the old rival BJP to the rising AAP. By the time of writing this editorial, the overall voter turnout in Punjab is reported to stand at around 62 per cent. The multi-cornered contest in the state appears to be reduced to a tight bilateral contest between the Congress and the AAP. Around 2.14 crore voters have locked in their votes to seal the fate of 1,304 candidates fighting for a total of 117 assembly seats in Punjab. Unlike UP, Punjab went for a single-phase elections and voters are done with their task. To arrive at any conclusion, one has to wait for the declaration of results on March 10. Punjab elections this time around can be said to have come with greater intrigue, at least over the past three decades. The main reason is that it, in a sense, is the first full-fledged multi-cornered contest in the state. 2017 saw a triangular contest but Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) just seemed to struggle for consolidating its footing in the state at that point. This time around, it has emerged as a principal challenger to the incumbent Congress which has undergone heavy infighting over the last year. In fact, the most striking feature of Punjab polls has been the manner in which AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal has mainstreamed the issues of development — centred around very basic facilities of health and education. Apart from sidelining unnecessary issues of communalism and bigotry to a great extent, this approach has also refined the concept of development itself which thus far has been seen through a narrowed lens of road and bridge construction. It has been truly heart-warming that such issues are gaining greater traction in elections. Irrespective of what the results would be, at least a start has been made and it is an achievement in itself. This argument, however, is not meant to snatch the credit from the aware electorate of Punjab which, by and large, has kept itself away from divisive politics over decades, mostly. Barring a few sensitive issues like sacrilege, religion has been kept away from politics. Another important facet has been that leading parties in the fray (Congress and AAP) claim to have left it upon the people to select their chief ministerial candidate, and Bhagwant Mann and Charanjit Singh Channi are relatively new faces and command great popular acceptance. The choice of Channi is said to be made considering the large fraction of Dalit votes in the state, which may be true. It must however be noted that the composition of entire Dalit electorate in the state is highly fragmented and rarely do they vote as a single block. Moreover, AAP is also reported to have developed a significant hold over the Dalit population this time around. Where Channi is a Dalit face, Bhagwant Mann is from Sangrur which is in the largest of the three geographical units — Malwa — the state is broadly divided into. Malwa comprises 69 assembly seats, against 25 in Majha and 23 in Doaba. How stronger the sentiment of having a CM from their own region prevailed among Malwa voters remains to be seen. The picture is very unclear around the prospects of BJP-Amrinder-SAD (Samyukta) alliance. The BJP is facing an outrightly clear flak on account of farmers' protest issue. Though there is not much buzzword around the issue in poll campaigns, many believe it to be a silent but firm denial. Once again, the results will have to be waited for before arriving at any conclusion. It also needs to be seen as to what extent Amarinder Singh — though undoubtedly a stalwart — has been able to balance his influence after dissociating himself with the Congress. The last major corner is the BSP-SAD alliance. Notably, despite being a pro-Dalit party, the BSP has failed to make any significant mark in the electoral politics of the state until now. SAD remains a strong regional force but how the dynamics of its breaking away with its 'natural ally' — the BJP — will play out is a different game altogether. The voters in Punjab have locked in their answers to these intriguing questions. March 10 will be an interesting day to watch for. It may also overhaul the entire politics of the state. Fingers remain crossed.