In Anticipation

WEEKLYECONOMIC AND POLITICAL In Anticipation With the election process for the 14th Lok Sabha winding down with just one more phase to go on May 10, attention must now turn to the outcome. But unlike other elections in the past, the opinion polls have somewhat dampened the anticipation of the votecount and the announcement of results. Even if it is wellacknowledged that opinion polls may yield entirely wrong results, the focus now is on just how wrong they were. That they served another purpose should also be acknowledged. These surveys have undoubtedly had the effect of influencing not so much voter behaviour in the subsequent phases, but the nature and pulse of the campaign of the political parties and candidates. For instance, the BJP it is widely being pointed out shifted ground underplaying