What's the Karnataka election been about so far, as it goes to polls for 89 of the 224 seats in the first phase in less than 24 hours? Has any one single issue captured the imagination of the voters through the campaign? Apparently no. And surprisingly not even price rise, despite the best efforts of the BJP to project it.

It was interesting to notice during the travels to areas going to polls tomorrow, people were not enthusiastic to talk about the issue, even when asked. "Oh that's not an issue sir, it's always there", a villager in the Varuna constituency in Mysore district, where Congress' Siddaramaiah is pitted in a fiercely close battle with former top cop, L.Revanasiddaiah of BJP. The issue there is Siddaramaiah, and people are divided on caste lines, and their sole aim is to either ensure either his victory or defeat.

Even in a relatively economically weaker area like neighbouring T.Narasipur, even daily wage labourers are not interested in discussing it, Two OBC masons in Gargeshwari, a predominantly Muslim town, resting during lunch break, would rather discuss the pros and cons of parties and candidates in the fray. Earning Rs.250 a day, they are also not interested in discussing about price rise.

Even in far away Tumkur district (from Mysore) two brick kiln workers, relaxing after a day's work, which pays them Rs.150 a day, they are also more interested in discussing the merits and de-merits of the candidate.

While in Bangalore city, where the economy continues to boom, what people are more worried about is the infrastructure and the traffic chaos. They of course blame the coalition Governments of the last four years for the pathetic state of affairs, which has made traveling a back breaking, time consuming, and polluting experience. However going by the trends in each of the 28 constituency which comes under the Greater Bangalore Metropolitan region, there seems to be difference of opinion about which party, Congress or the BJP, which can resolve these problems. It is quite likely that the two parties will divide the seats more or less in equal proportion with Janata Dal(S) lagging very poorly behind.

So if price rise is not a issue what else is? It is obviously scattered. One dominant thought in the minds of the people, which comes out when talking to them, is the hope of a return to single party rule. But going by the trends in the seats going to polls in the first phase, people do not seem to have much hope that it will happen. "It would be good if we can have a single party government, but since people have different preferences it may not be that easy", is the common refrain, be it in the urbanized Bangalore or in the rural hinterland.

Of course, the populist promises being made by all three major political parties, have indeed caught the imagination of the people in some way. But how far these manifesto promises will decide the voting pattern has always been a matter of conjecture in all Indian elections, and it is no different here.

There was a palpable sense of excitement when Sonia Gandhi in Tumkur spoke about Rs.2 per kg rice and colour TV sets to all the BPL households. The glow in the eyes of the women and even some men, when she spoke about it, indicated it may indeed be at the back of their minds. But would it be the decisive factor? The BJP also incidentally has promised Rs.2 per Kg rice and they have are also luring farmers with promises of free power. But farmers, who would of course love to have free power, also are cynical about this promise. "When there is no power, where will they give free power from", a farmer with 3 acres of land in Hassan district remarked.

The Janata Dal(S)' manifesto promise of scrapping CET, entrance exams for professional courses like engineering and medicine, and 30 percent reservation for kannadigas in the IT sector, has made even the urban middle class sit up and take notice. This class, especially in Bangalore, which has nothing but contempt for Janata Dal(S) Chief H.D.Deve Gowda and his marauding ways when it comes to IT sector, have also perked up to this offer. But will that lure them to vote for the Janata Dal(S), as against the Congress and BJP? Very doubtful.

Caste and local configurations and issues, candidates' record and the anti-incumbency factors, seem therefore to make a dominant impact than any of the issues. As far as the BJP efforts to revive the issue of terrorism are concerned, it may find some reasonance among certain sections, especially in Bangalore. But the flip side to this is that the Muslim vote which had got fragmented between the Congress and Janata Dal(S) in the last elections seems to have consolidated to a large extent in the entire south Karnataka belt, largely towards the Congress.

For the political parties which are trying to lure the voters with various promises, their hope is that atleast one or two of the issues will capture the imagination and work in their favour. But in a largely issue-less election like this, where personalities, vengeance, localised factors play a major role, shifting caste vote base may prove the most crucial. And here both Congress and BJP are the gainers, as Janata Dal(S) is the biggest loser.