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The verdict is in. Going by the trends at noon, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems set to retain power in four out of five states that went to polls. In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party is in the lead to form the state government.
In Uttar Pradesh, although the BJP might not win as many seats as it did in 2017 (as per current trends), this will be the first time in almost four decades that a sitting chief minister will be voted back to power.
The protests over the farm laws does not seem to have done any damage, at least in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP is actually leading in western UP, one of the key centres of the protests. The withdrawal of the laws seems to have worked and farmer anger has not been reflected in the ballot.
In Punjab, the AAP seems to have stepped into the breach. In the Malwa region, a key centre of grain production, AAP is ahead in 64 out of 69 seats.
By winning Punjab, AAP becomes the only non-Congress, non-BJP party to hold power in two states. This will give it confidence to try and make inroads in other states such as Gujarat which is going to the polls later this year. In the run-up to the 2024 general elections, AAP will matter, this piece argues.
So much for the elections. Markets are climbing today building on yesterday’s gains. The Sensex rose 2.2 percent at one point as oil registered its biggest one-day decline since April 2020. Brent crude is trading around $113 a barrel after the United Arab Emirates said it supported increasing output. The UAE and neighbour Saudi Arabia are among the few members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with spare capacity that could increase output, according to Reuters.
Moreover, the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine are to hold face to face talks in Turkey. A key Ukrainian official had said that Kyiv was open to discussing neutrality if in exchange it is given security guarantees by its neighbours, reported the FT.
Investing insights from our research team
Where are metal prices headed amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
This undervalued defence stock offers good value at current price
Insecticides (India): A value bet on normal monsoon
What else are we reading?
What US Intelligence thinks of the threats from Russia and China
Russia-Ukraine | War tensions mark a new normal for commodities
The Ukraine war and sanctions will lead to a global food crisis
Ukraine war: Oil shock should be mitigated through fiscal actions to sustain recovery
Sebi’s Dish TV order is unreasonably harsh on individual directors
Start-up Street: Closing down an unsuccessful start-up
The corporate retreat from Russia is going to be messy (republished from the FT)
Technical Picks: Silver Mini Futures, CG Power, State Bank of India, Jindal Steel and Power and Cummins (These are published every trading day before markets open and can be read on the app)
Ravi Krishnan
Moneycontrol Pro
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