To say that the Maharashtra Congress is in a crisis will be a gross understatement. With just days to go before polling for six Lok Sabha seats in the first phase in Nagpur and neighbouring seats, not a day goes by with some bad news for the Grand Old Party.

Just this week, first came news that the Shiv Sena (UBT) has defied it to go toe-to-toe in the Sangli seat. Then, on Thursday, NCP (Sharad Pawar) went ahead and announced its candidates for Bhiwandi and Wardha, two seats that Congress has contested and won in the past. At this rate, the party may end up with only the most undesired seats in Maharashtra, which its allies don’t deem winnable, by default.