BATTLEGROUND U.P.

The road to Delhi, they say, runs through Lucknow—the capital of Uttar Pradesh. That well-worn reference to the north Indian state’s clout in national politics is hardly an exaggeration: with 80 Lok Sabha seats, more than any other state, UP plays a pivotal role in determining who forms the government at the Centre. Hardly surprising, then, that the state should have emerged as the main battleground—not to mention the most violent one—in the confrontation between the Union government and irate Indian citizens over the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

The great public outrage against the CAA,