In Congress's renewed popularity with Muslim and low-caste voters some saw intimations of a revival for it even in Uttar Pradesh, India's biggest state, from which the party had been all but ejected.
Nationally, Congress still gathers in the Muslim and the more secular Hindu votes and the BJP the more fervent Hindus, and caste still counts: Mayawati relies on Dalit votes and the Yadav family on middle-ranking castes and Muslims in UP.