With the elections to the state assembly drawing near, the chaos in political circles can be hear loud and clear. The latest episode is the statement by BJP chief Amit Shah, which has apparently angered coalition partner Shiv Sena. Shah asked his party leaders to strive to install BJP’s CM in Maharashtra. Before that, NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s meeting with his counterpart from Congress, Sonia Gandhi, in which it was decided to fight the coming elections jointly, silenced his own party men.

Pawar’s decision took a number of NCP members, mostly supporters of his nephew, deputy CM Ajit Pawar, by surprise. Pawar junior and state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare, his close buddy, are not ready to accept a seat share of less than half (144) of the 288 assembly seats from the Congress. So, Pawar senior’s announcement without the acceptable seat ratio will further complicate matters, at a time when NCP feels that Congress was the biggest sufferer in the Lok Sabha polls, with just two seats, compared to its four wins.