Panaji, May 30 :    Panaji, May 30:  Underneath the deceptive calm that prevailed during the polling process in Goa today, a bitter battle was being fought between the BJP and the Congress. The elections, considered by many as a crucial test for both parties given the post- Gujarat scenario, saw participation from 40 per cent of the electorate till early afternoon. That could go up to 70 per cent by the end of the day. While there were reports of the two main contending parties wooing voters with allurements ranging from saris to alcohol, political observers say such gimmicks may not spell clear majority for either when the results are announced on June 1. While the chances of the BJP keeping its tenacious grasp on power appear dim, the possibility of a Congress triumph depends largely on how splintered the anti-BJP vote gets. The regional parties, though almost marginalised in the state, could play a role in deciding the front runner. The common man has of late displayed a marked disenchantment with both. The BJP ruled Goa for 18 months after taking power by engineering defections from the Congress, an issue the party played up, hoping to show the Congress in a bad light as the latter had granted tickets to several defectors. At the same time, it had to contend with the Goa Catholic church adopting a firm stand against communalism and corruption. The Congress, on the other hand, alienated its traditional support base by nominating a number of controversial candidates, in, what it said, was an attempt to put up 'winnable' contestants for the elections. But both the parties, and to some extent Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, made a special effort to draw votes by getting a bevy of eminent state and national leaders to address the electorate. Prominent candidates contesting the polls include chief minister Manohar Parrikar of the bjp and senior Congress leaders Pratapsingh Rane, Luizinho Faleiro and Ravi Naik. Parrikar is contesting for the third consecutive time from Panaji. Former chief ministers Shashikala Kakodkar of the MGP and the NCP's Wilfred D'Souza are also in the fray along with former Union ministers Shripad Naik and Ramakant Khalap.