Press Trust of India: The wannabe kingmakers of Indian politics, who had hoped for some hard bargaining after election results, bit the dust as the Congress-led UPA filled its kitty from the very states they had expected to do well.
With the majority of UPA's gains coming at the expense of the Third Front parties, that too in their traditional strongholds, those parties have been left redundant from the point of view of government formation.
The Congress party, that registered a massive gain of 60 seats as compared to the last election, increased its tally mainly from the Left-ruled West Bengal, Mayawati-ruled UP and Tamil Nadu along with its UPA allies.
In West Bengal, the Left's stronghold for the last three decades, the Congress in tandem with its strategic ally Trinamool Congress brought home 25 seats out of the 42.
In the state where disenchantment with the ruling parties was evident, the Left Front could muster 15 seats.
In yet another Left bastion Kerala, the Congress-led UDF swept the polls, winning 16 constituencies out of the 20 and decimating the Left, which had hoped to be an important player in the post-result scene.
Prominent media research body, the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), in its analysis of the results of the general elections, said that the Left was seen as a "stumbling block for the country moving forward" and that is why it has been "rejected and reduced to half".
Meanwhile, in UP where Congress' "revival" is being credited to the charisma of its young leader Rahul Gandhi, the party went solo and did better than Chief Minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Mayawati, who had been the most vocal in articulating her prime ministerial aspirations as a potential Third Front candidate lost major ground in her stronghold.
Gaining a good 11 seats as compared to the last Lok Sabha, the Congress won 21 seats in the largest Indian state as against 20 won by the BSP and 23 won by Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP).
While the Congress party has credited Rahul for its surprise performance in UP, there is a feeling in the BJP that Varun Gandhi's Pilibhit hate speech had cost the party dearly as Muslim votes consolidated in favour of Congress in several constituencies.
Down South in Tamil Nadu, the Congress joined its ally DMK to win 27 seats for the UPA as compared to the AIADMK and its allies, part of the Third Front.