Just when the Congress was wondering about NCP chief Sharad Pawar's intentions in opening channels with the Shiv Sena, the old Maratha warrior surprised everybody by meeting Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi in Pune. It was a low-key meeting but no less high profile for that and replete with significance. The very next day the two parties announced they had finally worked out their state-level agreement — the NCP gets 22 seats, one more than the last time - a coincidence, perhaps but nonetheless significant.

Amidst all the speculation about pre and post poll alliances this election — since a coalition government at the Centre and in Maharashtra seems a given — Pawar's grandstanding added the requisite amount of spice. He has friends across all party lines, has joined and left the Congress a couple of times, has forged and broken a number of alliances and manages to wield some amount of clout in the political arena.

The young Gandhi and the wily Maratha met at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute in Pune, though it is clear that there was more than sugar on their mind, if not in their tea. The irony is that it was a Vasantdada state government that Pawar toppled in the 1970s when he first became chief minister; but all that is history. For now, the question is whether Pawar is still a key national figure as he hopes and whether he has enough momentum to carry him through to a significant role in the next government, whichever it will turn out to be.

Pawar's hopes lie not merely with the Congress but also with the putative Third Front, which is still a work in progress. If he wants to become the next prime minister — which currently seems somewhat farfetched — he has to bring a lot more to the bargaining table and as a local party the NCP does not command that level of clout, even if it were to win all the seats in Maharashtra. His image as shrewd strategiser and controller of cricket in India possibly offer more public traction than his role as Union agriculture minister.

Pawar has managed the matter within the state, with the Congress and the NCP working out their seat-sharing details, giving Congress a slight edge. In the end, as many predicted, he would go back to the Grand Old Party, never mind his hobnobbing with the Shiv Sena. The Sena too has re-entered the familiar embrace of its partner the BJP. After a bit of flirtation, it is déjà vu all over again.

DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication