Still first!

Pre-election surveys in Chhattisgarh may have given the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the lead in the state but Congress leaders there remain upbeat. Not on hope and optimism, to be sure, but because the party has beaten its rival in releasing its candidate list and party manifesto. The latter, in fact, caused a senior leader to quip that the BJP now had the opportunity to crib from the Congress manifesto. He was not wrong; both manifestos have several points in common.