``Now we have been assured a second term,'' Rane remarked. ``Prior to the revolt, we had estimated that we would get at least 35 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha polls. Now our chances have further brightened,'' he exulted.

While BJP General Secretary Prakash Jawdekar and Shiv Sena spokesman Subhash Desai declined to make specific comments, saying it was the internal dispute of the Congress, at least half a dozen Cabinet members of both Shiv Sena and BJP felt that the crisis in the Congress following Pawar's salvo against Sonia Gandhi has assured the victory for the alliance in the Lok Sabha as well as Assembly elections.

``We do not want to comment on the ongoingdisputes in the Congress. However, our stand on Sonia Gandhi is very clear. We are against the election of a foreigner as a Prime Minister. And, Pawar, who was supporting her candidature, has raised the issue now,'' Jawdekar said.

Sena leader Subhash Desai said his party was keenly watching the political developments in the Congress. ``Unless the entire exercise is complete, it will be too early to react on the stand taken by Pawar.

Some senior Shiv Sena and BJP leaders, on the condition of anonymity, ventured to see ahead, speculating on the event if Pawar was expelled or given a show cause notice by Gandhi. ``We will not be surprised if Pawar floats a regional or a national level party and seek electoral understanding with Mulayam Singh and RPI leader Ramdas Athavale,'' a senior Shiv Sena Minister remarked.

But all the leaders confirm one event: that the dissent bodes well for a saffron team demoralised by Congress's 1998 electoral coup driven by Pawar, and worsened by the outcome of the Assemblyelections in the neigbouring Madhya Pradesh. His reasons that if Pawar breaks out the Cong-RPI alliance, which grabbed 37 out of the 48 seats in the State, will be jeopardised and the State will see multi-cornered contests to the advantage of the Saffron alliance.

``Such a political situation will help the alliance to retain power. I am sure, we will get more than 160 seats in the assembly and 28 to 30 seats in the Lok Sabha,'' the Minister said.

Irrigation Minister Ekanth Khadse too expressed a similar view.

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray reaction was a jubilant `I told you so'. He was the first politician in the country to make this happy prediction for the alliance. When former MP Jambuwantrao Dhote joined the Shiv Sena on May 8, Thackeray had specifically stated that `he would not be surprised if Pawar revolted against the party leadership.

``What I said 15 days ago, has come true. Now I feel that more trouble is in store for the Congress as Pawar is likely set up his own front,'' Thackeray saidin a statement in today's Saamna, Sena's mouthpiece.

Meanwhile, Jawdekar announced that the state executive of the BJP will meet here on May 18 and 19 to take stock of the repercussions in Maharashtra. The meeting will mainly deliberate on the preparations for the elections in the new scenario. BJP leader Pramod Mahajan and Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, Union Minister of state for Home and Railways Ram Naik and state president Suryabhan Wahadane will also address the delegates.