Will the MVA hold, will Uddhav Thackeray stay?

As the extent of the rout of the Maha Vikas Aghadi sank in - the alliance managed only 44 of the 288 Assembly seats - the focus shifted to its longevity

In the days after the Maharashtra Assembly results, Uddhav Thackeray's lieutenants offered a smorgasbord of excuses for their party's pathetic performance, from malfunctioning EVMs to foul play. Congress leaders led by state chief Nana Patole also detailed the alleged foul play and called out the Mahayuti for their less-than-honourable efforts to grab power in the state. Sharad Pawar, the grand old patriarch of the state's politics now leading a rump of the Nationalist Congress Party he had established 25 years ago, preferred not to join this chorus. As the extent of the rout of the Maha Vikas Aghadi sank in—the alliance managed only 44 of the 288 Assembly seats—the focus shifted to its longevity.