New Delhi: With just one round of polling to go, both the Congress and the BJP are through with their assessments on how many seats they will win.
Their assessments seem strikingly similar. Each party along with its allies hopes to get around 215 seats.
The Congress expects between 162 and 171 seats. It's hoping its allies will bag 55, taking the total to 218 seats. That's still way short of the magic figure of 272.
The Congress hopes there will be a close contest in 20 seats.
And its assessment is that Mayawati will get around 32 seats.
So with the numbers still not adding up, the Congress knows it will have to hunt for more allies.
Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan says: "We will have to approach like minded parties. This is a reality."
But the Congress knows that will be tough if it doesn't have a clear lead over the BJP.
The BJP is trying to woo the TRS, endorsing its stand for a separate Telangana state and eyeing Jayalalithaa. The party is even criticising Mayawati's archrival Mulayam for pleading his support to any party that dismisses the Mayawati government.
The BJP's assessment is that the NDA in its present form will win about 235 seats -- still short of the magic figure.
So the party's key negotiators like Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley know they have their task cut out.
But even the BJP knows it will succeed only if it manages to get close to the Congress tally.
So all eyes on counting day, the 16th of May, after which the real action will begin.