After two rounds, same difference

With two phases of polling over, the Congress and BJP appear to be neck-and-neck in the race to emerge as the single largest party.

Ground reports from the areas that have polled so far suggest that the Congress’s gains in Kerala have squared off with losses in Andhra Pradesh and the BJP is more or less holding its 2004 numbers in its strongholds of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Political leaders, pundits and psephologists are reading these as signs of a status quo in the final tally for the two national parties, give or take a few seats.

Five years ago, the difference between the two parties was a mere seven seats (Congress, 145; BJP, 138). Nothing in the campaign so far indicates a substantial shift in voter mood, either in favour of or against the two parties.