New alliances bloom

Politicians who opposed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on ideological grounds before the Assembly elections are blithely jettisoning their reservations and openly displaying a distinct partiality for the lotus, the party's symbol. The Nationalist Congress Party is one such, having stunned everyone with its swift offer of outside support for the BJP, which has not managed to cross the halfway mark in the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly. But now it appears that several local Congressmen are similarly inclined, and they are quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's immortal lines as justification: "Andhera chatega aur kamal khilega" (The darkness will be lifted when the lotus will bloom).