The voter may not have a PhD or even know how to sign their name, but when it comes to voting, they are sharper than the average political pundit. Take the by-election to the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra. While Mahayuti swept the Assembly elections in all six constituencies that form the Lok Sabha seat, voters decided to keep everyone guessing by choosing the Congress for the by-election. It’s hard to imagine: on the same day, in the same booths, using two different electronic voting machines, voters happily ticked Mahayuti for the Assembly elections and then turned to the Lok Sabha by-election to hand a wafer-thin victory to the Congress candidate — by just 1,457 votes. Talk about keeping politicians on their toes! The drama didn’t stop there. The BJP briefly celebrated its lead, only to be trumped by postal ballots favouring the Congress. It was the kind of nail-biting thriller Bollywood dreams of — minus the item song.

For the Congress, this is a small consolation prize in an otherwise dismal show, where they managed just 16 seats in a House of 288. Still, they can pat themselves on the back for winning both Lok Sabha seats up for grabs, including Wayanad in Kerala, where Priyanka Gandhi romped home with a massive margin. Pollsters, meanwhile, got it all wrong, with some even predicting a hung Assembly. But voters had other plans, giving Mahayuti a clear mandate while switching gears when choosing their MP. The takeaway? Voters aren’t sheep; they know how to mix and match their choices. As if to underline their sly genius, the voters of Nanded have demonstrated the truth of the democratic maxim: “The voter knows best.” Smug smiles all around — but only on the voters’ faces.