Assembly elections: View of the hills

Uttarakhand is dominated by Rajputs who, together with Brahmins, comprise more than half of the population.

While the Other Backward Classes, such as Gurjar, Saini and Jats, hold sway in four-five seats in the plains, Sikhs play a decisive role in a few seats in Udham Singh Nagar.

Uttar Pradesh had the dubious distinction of leading the five poll-bound states in the percentage of MLAs with criminal cases pending against them, while Manipur was a beacon of hope.

See: Law breakers to law makers

Among the five poll-bound states, Goa has the maximum average number of sittings per year (26) followed by Manipur (24) and UP (22). The longest assembly session was held for 21 days in Manipur (01-02-2008 to 03-04-2008) in 2008.

The shortest session was held just for a day in Goa on June 15, 2007.

See: Performance of legislative assemblies

Interestingly, Poorvanchali and Bengali migrants can also turn the tide in two seats: