The NCP, on the other hand, has armtwisted the Congress on various occasions. It defeated the Congress nominee for Rajya Sabha Avinash Pande by supporting independent industrialist Rahul Bajaj, backed by the Sena. Likewise, the NCP wrested power from the Congress in the Pune municipal corporation with Sena support. The NCP has a strong base in rural Maharashtra where rich Marathas run their fiefdoms through cooperatives. The NCP has already gone into poll mode. It has even floated a new outfit — the Dalit, Muslim, OBC Manch to consolidate its position among the minorities.

One of the major setbacks to Sharad Pawar’s dreams of becoming prime minister was the election of Pratibha Patil as president. Though the party supported Patil, the NCP is annoyed at what could be a side-effect of that choice: the president and prime minister have never been from the same state.

The tension between the Sena and BJP has also been building up. There has been friction on several occasions — like the Chimur assembly bypoll — where the Sena MLA had quit, joining the Congress, and the BJP wanted to contest the seat. When differences between BJP’s state chief and Uddhav Thackeray reached a flashpoint, Thackeray Sr intervened and let the BJP contest, and lose.

The presidential poll boosted the tension as the Sena supported Patil. The latest rift was evident in the poll for the legislative council from the Aurangabad-Jalna local bodies. The BJP refused to support Sena’s nominee and supported an independent.

... contd.