The fate of the Congress-NCP alliance may yet depend on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections. Although NCP chief Sharad Pawar has sworn that he will not cross over to the National Democratic Alliance, there are some within his own party who are questioning his statement. In fact, some of his NCP colleagues say the fate of the alliance will depend on the number of Lok Sabha seats it wins in Maharashtra. If the coalition fails to put up an impressive show tomorrow, there are chances that Pawar may be ‘persuaded’ to do the unexpected. ‘‘We forged an alliance with the Congress in the hope that we could avoid a split of the anti-saffron votes and win a major chunk of the seats. If we win less than half of the 48 seats in Maharashtra, Pawarsaheb will have to re-think his strategy,’’said a top party functionary. The general assessment within the NCP is that the combine, along with the RPI and Janata Dal, will bag 26-30 seats in the state — a tally that would suggest bright prospects for the same grouping in the Assembly elections likely to be held in September-October this year. But there is also a section that is apprehensive about the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls due to the anti-incumbency factor and the drought raging across 71 tehsils in Maharashtra. This NCP lobby might influence Pawar to change his stance if the tie-up with the Congress does not yield favourable results. ‘‘It would force us to think whether there is a bright future for the Democratic Front or whether we should join hands with the NDA,’’ an NCP functionary pointed out. Little wonder then, that the Congress camp still views Pawar with suspicion. A couple of days back, Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde himself took swipes at ‘‘leaders of small parties who are dreaming of becoming prime minister’’, after Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat met the NCP chief at the latter’s residence in New Delhi. On Wednesday, after Pawar issued a very unlikely statement that he was not in the race for the PM’s job, Shinde was almost defensive. He said he was misquoted by the media. ‘‘I trust Pawar very much and he will not go with the NDA,’’ he said.
