But this group can still face a problem from the newly-formed 21-member front led by the Republican Party, which can wean away sections of the Dalit and minority votes.

The bumbling response of the Vilasrao Deshmukh government to 26/11 and the subsequent revelations of the lack of preparedness of the security forces are also substantial minus points against the Congress-NCP government.

Unlike the closeness of the contest in Maharashtra, the tilt is in the Congress's favour in Haryana where it won nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats this year - the same as in 2004. The only difference was that the remaining seat was won this time by the Haryana Janhit Party (HJC), led by former Congress leader Bhajan Lal. The BJP had won it five years ago.

In the assembly, too, the Congress has a commanding presence with 63 out of the 90 seats. Clearly, the revival of the party since 2004-05 is continuing after a longish spell out of power when the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) ruled the roost.

While this turnaround in the Congress's fortunes may be due to the return to the party of the Jats, who comprise more than 20 percent of the population, there is little doubt that Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is a Jat, has generally proved to be a capable leader.

It was his confidence in the Congress's growing influence which made him bring the assembly elections forward by about seven months. One reason why the move may succeed is the BJP's present problems and the break-up of its alliance with the INLD.

A similar rupture in the tie-up between the HJC and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is bound to help the Congress. The alliance collapsed apparently because Bhajan Lal wanted to include the BJP in it after the latter's split from the INLD, but the BSP was unwilling.

As in Haryana, the Congress can also look forward to a fairly easy ride in Arunachal Pradesh, where it has 45 seats in the 60-member legislature, up from 34 in 2004. It also had little difficulty in winning both the parliamentary seats from the state this year. All in all, therefore, the Congress can look forward to the ensuing contests with a fair degree of confidence.

(05.09.2009-Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)