Two Striped Cats, One Circus

With the man battling for life, it’s no wonder the state unit has come to a near-standstill. Most programmes have been cancelled, workers are still doing the rounds of Mumbai. A party stalwart remarked that the BJP had been set behind by 20 years with this one incident. The party sees hope in Gopinath Munde, ex-state president and ex-deputy CM, a mass leader like Mahajan and related to him by marriage. For now though, he’s too shaken to take stock of the political implications.

In fact, Pravin Mahajan’s moment of madness has both professional and personal implications for Munde. He always worked closely with Mahajan but it was the latter who called the shots. While no one doubts Munde’s ability, party leaders acknowledge his limitations. "Mahajan is the face of the BJP in Maharashtra. He is the face of Maharashtra in Delhi. We see no one who comes near that stature," remarked a former MP.

The strategic alliance with Shiv Sena will also have to bear the strain. Mahajan, more than any other in his party, steered the alliance through all its fluctuations, treacherous ups and downs and the mercurial temperament of Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Munde will require enormous tact to steer it from here. The last few months have seen the Sena troubled by its own internal strife and the BJP toying with the idea of becoming the "big brother" in the alliance. Sources say the party had charted out an independent route in the 2007 polls to municipal corporations, including Mumbai and Pune. "It’s a mini-assembly election, and Mahajan had already given us the blueprint," says BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.