In the Bengal BJP headquarters in central Calcutta, there were altogether five men, huddled in front of a TV screen, around 1.30pm.

As the numbers flashed, one of them told his party colleagues “110-115 will at least save some of our maan-samman (pride)”.

The BJP was then leading in 90 seats. “110-115” was a distant dream.

Trinamul offices looked just the opposite, often scarily so because of lack of Covid hygiene.

At a Trinamul office in south Calcutta, workers were confused whether celebrations were in order given that Mamata Banerjee was trailing in Nandigram. With every new lead, there were loud cheers and then the conversation again veered towards Mamata.

Krishna Dasgupta cried out: “Ish! Didi akhono pichhiye. Ki je hawbe (Oh! Didi is still trailing. What now?)”

Not too far away from the Naktala Trinamul office, the doors at the BJP and CPM offices had padlocks hanging from them.

In Adi Naktala, the BJP has an office for the Tollygunge area. On Sunday, the office remained shut. The CPM office, opposite Krishnu Dey Sarani, did not open as well.

“By this time on other Sundays, there are many here,” said an elderly person across the road.

A deserted BJP office in the Hastings area on Sunday. Bishwarup Dutta

Around the time the BJP leads were hovering around 100, the discussion in the Trinamul camp was how much money the BJP could spend to make up for the deficit. Then the TV ticker showed the BJP was down to 98 and Sumita Dam, the outgoing Trinamul councillor of Ward . 100, thumped the table in front of her in celebration.

Then flashed a ticker “Egiye baamera (the Left are leading)” and there was a loud and collective expression of disbelief. Someone in the room then pointed out that the news was of Kerala.

Across small Trinamul offices, PK (Prashant Kishore), often unmentionable within the ranks, had emerged a hero. “He was the one who said the BJP would not cross three digits. He was right,” said a young man.

The arrangements in the BJP election office at Hastings were grand.

Biggies like the BJP’s Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya and IT cell chief Amit Malviya were supposed to brief the media. But things were not proceeding as expected. Only middle-rung state leaders are here, said a party source.