So, in this caste-maze, with wily state politicians in full flow with their abacuses, is there any scope for the national parties to scoop a significant number of these much-talked-about 120 seats? The most recent time that a national party could bridge the UP-Bihar divide was in the ’90s, when the BJP’s Ram Mandir campaign brought politics in both these states together; but that appears to have petered out, unless of course it is the BJP’s hope that playing it both ways on the Varun Gandhi CD has something to offer. Where the Congress could draw hope from is the fact that UP and Bihar have delivered surprises in the past — though woefully for them, more as drops than as surprise recoveries (1989, then 1991); and perhaps that their national job guarantee scheme, which has generated goodwill for the UPA in low job growth states like these, can be made into an issue sufficiently “political” to turn the vote. Otherwise, it is back to the caste chessboard and presence on the ground. Both are subjects that both national parties are loath to discuss in both states. Now that’s a similarity.

seema.chishti@expressindia.com