Rahul vs Modi: Some answers to the Big Question

A lowdown on how the Rahul vs Modi battle would pan out:

■ Party Support: Rahul starts with an initial advantage, as he does not have a single challenger in his party. Modi will face more internal challenges than from outside. Every BJP CM is a power centre. BJP's Central leadership would also be keen to stay in the picture. There always exists the shadow of the RSS.

■ Backing of allies: Rahul will have the unstinted support of his UPA allies. At least some of the BJP's allies may support Modi, only if he manages to emerge as the BJP leader. Some NDA allies, however, are clearly chafing at supporting him.

■ Campaign style: Once the battle begins, and presuming he manages to get himself anointed as the face of the party, Mr Modi will score as a communicator.

■ Sign from the past: Previous evidence has shown Rahul Gandhi at a national stage appears to perform better, going by results in the Lok Sabha elections. In Gujarat, despite the overwhelming BJP majority in the state Assembly, the Congress got 11 LS seats, against the BJP's 14. In MP, where the BJP was ruling, the Congress got 12 and the BJP 16.

■ Party strategy: The stage has already been set by home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde by indicating that Congress and its leader are ready to take on BJP on the plank of communalism and the entry of Modi will help them strengthen their campaign platform. Modi may himself be tempted to play a communal card, however subtly, in the hope that there is a reverse Hindu polarisation in states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam to his party's advantage, but it may backfire as there exists serious regional forces in these states. The BJP's anti- corruption plank has also eroded.