Kathmandu, Dec. 31 -- After several "alternative" political parties merged to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections, the two largest parties in the dissolved House of Representatives have hinted at a possible electoral alliance and may come together in a post-poll coalition after the March election.

But there are several caveats and ideological issues that mitigates against the possibility of the Congress and UML coming together and contesting the elections under a seat-sharing arrangement.

Earlier, there were rumours that after the Rastriya Swatantra Party and Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah (Balen) decided to come together and put forward Shah as a prime ministerial candidate, the Congress and the UML might also jointly contest e...