Rhetoric on development and the “Modi wave” apart, all major players concede that politics in Lucknow was still very much about castes.
Lucknow has some 450,000 Muslims, 350,000 Brahmins, 150,000 Vaishyas, 125,000 Kayasths, 100,000 each Yadavs and Dalits, 60,000 Thakurs and a sizeable presence of people from Uttarakhand (175,000 votes).
While the Muslims are likely to opt between the Congress and the SP, some Shias may lean towards the BJP. Dalits are expected to stick to the BSP.
AAP, some say, could take away a chunk of urban votes.
