The Thackeray Dilemma

It is being said that the BJP is prepared to break off the alliance

It is being said that the BJP is prepared to break off the alliance if it is not its senior partner for the Assembly polls, having an alternative ally-in-waiting in the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Without the BJP, the Shiv Sena can’t win. Without the Shiv Sena, the BJP can. This, then, is Thackeray’s dilemma—play second fiddle, or break away himself? Ego won’t allow the former, and pragmatism won’t make him go for the alternative. In the interim, there will only be noise.