Pawars itinerary

Even as he sealed a continuation of his Nationalist Congress Partys seat-sharing pact with the Congress in Maharashtra,Sharad Pawar has made little secret of his intention to keep as much company as possible in this remarkably promiscuous campaign season. Even so,his decision to share the platform at an election meeting with the BJDs Naveen Patnaik and the Left parties Prakash Karat and A.B. Bardhan is one of the more arresting moments of this week. In Orissa,in whose capital they were scheduled to congregate on Friday,the ruling BJD is the Congresss chief opponent and is in seat-sharing alliance with the Left. And predictably,the Congress is not amused.

Pawar is not the only politician to use diverse fora to announce the many post-poll options he is considering. Alliances and seat-sharing talks have broken down across the country,only for the different parties to say that their real choices will be clear after the results are in. It happened in Orissa,with the BJD breaking its alliance with the BJP but reluctant to admit that its arrangement with the Left is an endorsement of the Third Front. In Tamil Nadu,the PMK is underplaying its exit from the UPA. In Bihar and UP,the RJD and Samajwadi Party are cranking up locally the electoral battles with the Congress,but argue that they will in all likelihood be in business with the national party after the results are in. And elsewhere,even as the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the Telugu Desam affirm inclusion in the Third Front,its open season on speculating where they may go after mid-May. But Pawar is perhaps the most audacious. Not just has he given the Congress some uncomfortable moments about the Bhubaneswar meet. Hes supping,too,with the Shiv Sena and asserting his possible prime ministerial bid.

After the election results stream in,reasons will possibly emerge for the unusual fragmentation this election season. But the Congress too may wonder whether its repudiation of national-level alliances brought a measure of incoherence in its allies ranks.