India, Dec. 26 -- The future of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), formed to keep the BJP out of power in the state, appears uncertain. Two of its three primary constituents - the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) - have stitched together alliances of convenience, while the Congress is going it alone in several civic bodies. The result: in most of the 29 municipal corporations going to the polls on January 15, the three parties are not fighting together as the MVA coalition.

In the most crucial civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Uddhav Thackeray has teamed up with his cousin Raj's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) rather than the Congress. Ironically, on paper, the Congress is s...