However, both are compelled to remain together as coalition partners because of political compulsions. Power cements their ties more than anything else. Besides its share at the Centre, the NCP is an important partner in Maharashtra, Goa and Meghalaya.

Why do strains develop between the two? It is because of the inherent contradictions in the alliance. Despite ten years of being coalition partners, there is no cohesion at the ground level as there is suspicion and mistrust. This becomes more evident at the time of elections.

Secondly, although Pawar and the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi are polite to each other, Pawar has not forgotten his removal from the Congress Party in 1989 and Sonia Gandhi has not forgiven Pawar's mistake of raising the 'Foreigner issue” against her. This is one of the reasons why there is no meeting of hearts between the NCP and the Congress.

Thirdly, the Congress has not been able to digest that its offsprings like the NCP or the Trinamool congress have become dominant partners in Maharashtra and West Bengal. The local leaders continue to live in the good old days when the Congress was dominant. The friction had been visible with the senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra like Industry minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh having a jibe at the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. In the past six years, whenever there was a problem pertaining to his ministry, the Congress leaders did not leave the chance to criticise him be it on the farmer's suicide or drought relief or now the IPL controversy. They even opposed alliance with the NCP before the 2009 Assembly polls. The result is that the parent parties, as well as the splinter parties weaken each other. This is true of NCP and this is also true of the TMC.

Fourthly, although the Congress would like the NCP merge and there are many takers for this suggestion in the NCP, the Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar is not for the merger. Even recently the NCP working committee had rejected such an idea. There is fear of a succession war between Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar, his nephew as also some senior NCP leaders like Chagan Bhujbal and R.R. Patil.

The IPL controversy has once again triggered off a friction between the Congress and the NCP with fingers raised at the alleged involvement of the NCP leaders in the IPL scam. The IT raids and probing into the BCCI and IPL affairs have sent a political signal to the NCP leaders about their vulnerability. At one point of time, the controversy was moving from cricket to politics but the Congress quickly realized that it needed the NCP's nine votes for passing the Finance bill in the budget session. The government managers knew that the elbowroom for maneuverability is very limited in a coalition government. After the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram had a meeting with Pawar, apparently to impress upon him the need to oust Lalit Modi, things were worked out to the satisfaction of both. The Congress has achieved what it wanted and got rid of Modi. The NCP had voted with the government on the Finance bill and will be spared from any more embarrassment from the income tax or enforcement directorate. So all is well that ends well.

Interestingly, cricket seemed to have soured the Congress - NCP ties even earlier. In 2004, Pawar lost the race to head the BCCI to Ranbir Mahendra, backed by the Congress. The combined strength of NCP and the BJP together could not get him elected as the BCCI chief. Again, in 2006, the friction between the two parties surfaced when the Congress backed Jagmohan Dalmia against the candidature of a West Bengal police officer to snub Pawar who was supporting the officer.

Now that the Finance bill has been passed smoothly, the Congress is quite relieved. It is clear that nothing more can be expected on the IPL investigation. Even the ministry of Corporate Affairs is going slow on the IPL affairs. With powerful politicians from various parties involved in cricket and other sports associations, it is to be only expected that all of them will go scot- free now that Lalit Modi has become the fall guy and the Congress has sacked junior minister Shashi Tharoor. There are some who see the return of Lalit Modi after six months or a year. In the case of Tharoor also there are rumours in the Congress Party that he may be rehabilitated at the earliest after a respectable cooling off period. So where does that leave the public? Those who are watching the political scene become more cynical and predict “business as usual” sooner than later.

Sharad Pawar is a mature politician and knows how to handle the Congress although he has gone wrong in his calculations sometimes. The Congress leaders also have come to have a working relationship with the NCP. The Congress leaders seem to have learnt to deal with the Maratha strongman. It is a game of give and take and it is also a game of power play. Who wins and who loses depend on the capacity of the players. (IPA Service)