New Delhi, Oct. 17: After two phases of polling in Bihar, the BJP acknowledged there was no split in the core votes accruing to the "Grand Alliance", that its tactic of forcing a breach in the RJD's traditional Yadav citadel may have bombed and that Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar succeeded in mutually transferring their votes.

A top BJP source, who did not want to be quoted, shared his assessment of the Bihar scenario with some journalists today. Admitting that the contest was " kadda" (tough) and claiming the NDA was "doing well", he said the BJP was focused on consolidating its own votes.

Part of the BJP's Bihar blueprint for success was predicated on a division in Lalu's Yadav votes and their shift to the NDA. It had hoped to regroup the backward caste votes and forge a winning coalition by adding them to its upper caste votes and the projected support from sections of the Extremely Backward Classes and the Dalits. The BJP played its share of the "Yadav card" and gave as many as 22 tickets to the community, a record by its standards. It also highlighted the induction of Ram Kripal Yadav in the Union ministerial council and harped on how Yadav, a Lalu confidant, had been "discarded" by his former boss.

However, the source also claimed even if some Yadavs rooted for the NDA, their backing would be "silent". "Yadavs who vote for us will not even speak to the pollsters leave alone journalists," he said.

The source, who is closely working on the polls, clarified that in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's original travel plans, he will address 13 in for the remaining rounds: four each in the third and fourth and five in the last.

The Bihar elections will wind down in Seemanchal that the party had always reckoned as the "most challenging". But the source today played down the BJP's earlier fears and maintained that Seemanchal, that has a big Muslim population, "was a test for everyone". "Development and caste are both relevant in this region as in the test of Bihar," the source emphasised, in a departure from the BJP's earlier position where it negated the primacy of caste in Bihar.

"We cannot delink caste from development. We also selected candidates on caste basis," the leader said.

Asked if the RSS chief Mhanrao Bhagwat's repeated statements calling for a review of the reservation policy had helped in coalescing the backward castes and Dalits around Lalu and Nitish, the source said: "We explained over and over again that the statements were misinterpreted and we have no intention of scaling down anyone's quota. We believe people were convinced. If anything they are sick and tired of the issue."

But on the beef controversy and on Lalu's reported reaction that Hindus also ate beef, the source claimed: "Every voter was hurt by his remark."

The source said on the ground said the BJP's fight was against Lalu. "Lalu will get double the numbers of seats Nitish does," he said.

On "Brand Nitish" and its reported all-round acceptability in Bihar, the source conceded: "The brand would have clicked had Nitish fought alone. Today, when he goes with Congress, he has to carry the cross of corruption. When he joined hands with Lalu, he has to bear the 'jungle raaj' stigma." Asked what the BJP's greatest advantage in Bihar was, the source said: "(Narendra) Modiji. I do not think the Modi wave has ebbed. The best thermometer to measure its existence are the buses ferrying people to his rallies. We have arranged one Bolero per election booth and every booth manager has been told to mobilise at least 10 persons. We don't have to remind anyone to do all this on a rally day. People arrive on their own to the bus stop and those that cannot be taken in often get very angry."

According to the schedule, Modi would address three rallies on October 25 at ITI ground of Marhaura in Saran, near Hajipur industrial area in Vaishali and at airport ground of Nalanda. All these districts would go to polls in the third phase.

On October 26, Modi will address two rallies - one at Orma ground in Siwan and second at airport ground in Buxar. On October 27, he will address at Bada Ramna Maidan in Bettiah, at Gandhi Maidan in Motihari and at airport ground in Sitamarhi.