The BJP and allies which clearly stood to gain in the event of an early poll will have to make extra efforts to keep the sympathy factor alive. It would mean careful planning in terms of issues to be taken up at election meetings, their timing and choice of leaders for tour to different regions.

It was admitted as much by BJP spokesperson Venkiah Naidu here on Tuesday when he said the party's demand for an election in June was not met. ``We will win all the same,'' he said, tacitly indicating that the election schedule did not quite help the party.

The Congress and its opposition allies heaved a sigh of relief upon announcement of polling in September-October. ``That is what we had demanded,'' said a beaming Ajit Jogi, spokesperson of the Congress at the party's daily briefing.

The Congress clearly lagged behind in the race with the BJP having held a meetingof its national executive, the highest policy making body, here last week in which major issues like formation of a common front with allies and a common manifesto were decided.

The delayed election will now afford the Congress the much needed respite in terms of putting its acts together. After its abortive attempt to form an alternative government at the Centre, the leadership was feeling demoralised. It had resulted in witch-hunting with leaders like Arjun Singh, Makhan Lal Fotedar and others in the firing line. Even Sonia Gandhi was not untouched. All this was bound to adversely affect their poll prospect in the event of the mid-term poll taking place in June.

While it is advantage Congress, the BJP and allies may be losers to that extent. Apart from the risk of sympathy factor evaporating in four months time, it may not be particularly easy for the BJP to keep the flock together. Poaching game has already started and, so far, the beneficiary has been the Congress party. Lok Shakti, a BJP ally headedby Ramakrishna Hegde, lost three senior leaders to Congress on Monday.

On Tuesday, two leaders of Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party defected to Congress. This is likely to increase in the coming days as electioneering picks up.

The latest BJP ally, DMK, is under constant pressure from its erstwhile secular friends to come back to their fold. With more time available to party managers now, the poaching game is only likely to intensify, mostly to the detriment of the BJP and allies at the current reckoning.

The BJP poll managers are now re-thinking measures in order to retain the lead they have taken as of now. The party, for example, announced that it would observe `Resurgent India Day' on May 11, the first anniversary of Pokhran-II. It has to come up with similar plans to keep up the tempo.

Reacting to the BJP plan, a Congress leader remarked: ``We are all in the long-run race. And those taking initial lead mostly lose the race.'' It is true that the Congress party has yet to begin the electionexercise in right earnest. Apparently, it had been waiting thus far to gauge at its rival, BJP, to make moves.