Uddhav Thackeray

The BJP manages to have its way yet again. After a day of back and forth between the Shiv Sena and BJP over the mayoral election date - originally scheduled for March 9 by the municipal secretariat - it has finally been pushed forward by a day. With this move, the BJP has effectively shut the door on a Sena-Congress tie-up, as it is also the day of the UP polls wherein aligning with a saffron party could seriously hurt Congress’ chances. Incidentally, March 8 is the last phase of the Uttar Pradesh polls, where Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party are alliance partners.