While the demeanour of party leaders suggested otherwise, the Congress and NCP press releases claimed that they received a huge response from ticket aspirants for the interviews conducted recently. The very fact that the parties had to use words such as huge response and crowds before party offices suggested that not everything is well with the parties, which have been reaping the fruits of power in the state since 1999.

In fact, a mere visit to the offices of the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP tells you all you need to know about how optimistic leaders and workers are about winning in the upcoming state elections. The state headquarters of BJP and the official bungalows of party leaders Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde near Mantralaya always have a crowd these days, with delegations making repeated visits to press for tickets for their chosen leader. The situation at Sena Bhavan in Dadar is much the same with aspirants pleading with office employees and leaders for a meeting with party chief Uddhav Thackeray. Rebels of other parties also rub shoulders with loyalists, claiming to be able to wrest assembly seats from the incumbents.