Putting up a formidable anti-BJP front together in the Lok Sabha elections seems to be a mirage for the Congress all across India, and in Maharashtra, where it is in a pre-poll alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Smaller parties are proving to be a bigger obstacle in the effort to avoid splitting of votes in the 48 constituencies that provide the much-needed space to increase the UPA's overall tally. At this point of time, a prominent Dalit face, Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar, could be a game-changer of sorts. Ambedkar's consortium of smaller parties – Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (a front of neglected masses), that includes his Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, some splinter RPI groups and local fronts – has put forth conditions that Congress and NCP may not approve of as a seat-sharing formula.

Ambedkar has posed some embarrassing questions to the Congress, calling it a soft Hindutva party. With no promises made and no answers given to Vanchit Aghadi, the alliance seems unlikely. NCP boss Sharad Pawar and state Congress president Ashok Chavan have been doing their best to get Ambedkar in the fold, but negotiations have failed because of his 'unreasonable' demands. The UPA's other prospective partner, Raju Shetti of Shetkari Sanghtana, wants more in addition to the one seat he has been holding. Hitendra Thakur's Bahujan Vikas Aghadi may go solo in Palghar. The left parties are expected to get a seat in north Maharashtra, but they want at least one more.