The day of reckoning is here. The elections have been announced with the first phase set to begin on April 16. Now the games will begin as our political parties scramble for allies and partners—will we see interesting new alignments or will they stick with the true and tried? Can the Congress hope to go it alone as a viable national party or will the Sonia-Rahul-Manmohan factor prove to be a damp squib? Will the NDA stay as cohesive as the BJP proclaims it will? And what impact will loose cannons like Mayawati and Jayalalitha have this time around? So many questions, all of which will be answered through what promises to be a blistering summer.