Self-goal?

Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh bumped into each other in the elevator in the state’s Vidhan Bhavan. Deshukh held Gadkari’s hand and thanked him for giving the Congress the courage to stand up to Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) while discussing seat-sharing in the coming Lok Sabha polls. So how did Gadkari help the Congress smoothen relations with the NCP, and why? Apparently, the NCP was flirting with the Shiv Sena (the BJP’s ally), so the BJP firmly told its ally that it needed to formally declare its support for LK Advani as prime minister — it even insisted the Sena accept the old 26-22 seat-sharing formula though the Sena wanted to contest an equal number of seats this time. Encouraged by the BJP’s success in negotiations, and the fact that this put paid to the Sena-NCP dalliance, the Congress let the NCP know it was prepared to go it alone if the NCP flirted with the Third Front.