The Third Front - the BSP and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) both .. were thoroughly trounced in the elections. While the BSP contested 58 seats, the RLM had contested on 37seats. However, most of the candidates belonging to these parties lost their security deposits ...

Political observers see this phenomenon ... as an indicator of things to come in the near future. They even paint a gloomy picture for the BSP and the RLM in their strongholds of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ...

Congressmen in Delhi attribute their victory to the Sonia factor and the churning of the political forces in which the votes of th Janata Dal and its later incarnations have come to the Con ress in a big way, not only in Delhi but also other states where the party enaerged victorious ...

It i being generally felt that the important sections of the electorate which har supported Nehru, Indira and later Rajiv, has now finally returned to the Congress after a brief "honeymoon" with parties like the JD and even the BJP. ...

The tally of the Congress in Delhi would have been more impressive, but for the party's tactical mistakes. Some Congress rebels helpe d the BJP win in several constituencies.

Moreover, the two independents, who won in Delhi Matin Ahmed from Seelampur and Ram Singh Netaji from Badarpur are actually Congress rebels, who were denied the party tickets .... (Source: The Hindustan Times, 1 December, 1998)