For the fourth consecutive time, the electorate has returned a fractured mandate ... The distinctive feature of the verdict ... However, is that while he letter is still slightly illegible, the spirit appears quite transparent. First, it marks an emphatic rejection of the United Front which has governed India since mid-1996. Second, it does not suggest any endorsement of the Congress which has managed to improve upon its 1996 score by less than 10 seats ... The third facet of the mandate clearly suggests that the only possible claimant to its spirit is the BJP-led alliance. Arguably, there is an equivocal element in this. But considering the BJP's national spread (albeit in thę company of its pre-poll allies), and the widespread personal popularity of Atal Behari Vajpayee, it would be dishonest to speciously contend that the 1998 mandate is a verdict against this formation.