"Everyone is smart enough to know the BJP didn't exactly cover itself in glory when it was in power," says Manoj Joshi, a prominent journalist. If they benefit from the situation, reckons political analyst Jyotirmaya Sharma, "it will not be because [the BJP] has done something right, but because the Congress has done everything wrong."

The prevailing mood suggests that both parties may be on slippery ground in a country frayed（使关系、神经等）紧张 by the ravages（破坏、蹂躏） of terrorism. The slogan for NDTV's round-the-clock coverage declares "Enough Is Enough," and many see that message as extending to politicians. When controversial BJP leader Narendra Modi offered monetary compensation to all the families of security personnel killed in action in Mumbai, he was firmly rebuffed by the wife of the city's slain antiterrorism chief Hemant Karkare. When the state of Kerala's Chief Minister, a member of the Congress Party, went to pay his respects to the family of a fallen commando on Sunday, he was barred from entering the house by the soldier's father. These moments of anger convey a growing public sentiment that the security crisis demands an end to the cynical games of Indian politics. "When the anger and hysteria subsides, questions of governance will come to the forefront," says Sharma. "Whoever fails to deliver will have to go."