This refers to the editorial, “A partnership of distrust” (July 7). The Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress are not locked in an uncomfortable embrace for the first time. Both have been in this position for some time, but they cannot part ways now because they will lose power in Maharashtra if they do so.
The demand by NCP leader Ajit Pawar for a 50:50 seat-sharing formula in the State is a pressure tactic, which might help his party get more than the 114 it had contested in 2009.
If the NCP breaks ties with the Congress and fights alone, it will only benefit the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in a four-cornered contest. So, maintaining a pragmatic approach, both the Congress and the NCP should bury their hatchet and fight together to save face. The combine is anyway set to lose the forthcoming State Assembly election, but each party will fare worse if it fights alone.