Charge of the strategy panel on alliances was handed over to his bete noire, Pawar, who had been sidelined during talks with other "secular" parties on forming an alternative government. Now its Pawarcredited with having "managed" the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha and the bsp during the trust voterather than Arjun Singh who is summoned to 10, Janpath for consultations. This, even though Pawar spoke his mind on the forthcoming polls, predicting a fractured mandate unless the concerns of underprivileged sections were addressed. The message is clear: not only can he deliver the largest single bloc of Congress MPs from any state, but he can also use his considerable skills for negotiation to hammer out poll adjustments.