Congress has doused the fire by wooing the party’s Muslim face Arif Naseem Khan, who had resigned as the star campaigner. It realised on Monday, much later, that Khan was a loyal and influential leader, who the party needed in its rank to lead the charge against the BJP. In fact, Khan had wished to lead from the front and asked for a ticket from the Mumbai North Central constituency where Muslims have the largest presence in the city. But Khan was denied. He said his ticket was confirmed two months ago, but the party replaced him with Varsha Gaikwad, the city Congress president, who actually had demanded South Central for herself.

The controversy flared up further when MVA partner Shiv Sena (UBT) strongly rebutted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge`s statement that the replacement was influenced by requirements of alliance. Grapevine said that in case of Khan`s candidature and in view of polarisation, Sena would not be able to transfer Hindu votes to a Muslim contestant. It upset Sena as it also banks on new-found Muslim support. It called out Congress, asking it not to blame others for the mess.