India, Nov. 30 -- Dire consequences of Maha betrayal could wreck future coalitions at the Centre.

Notwithstanding the pretence, the entire secular-liberal crowd is happy at the seeming discomfiture of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra. Its obsessive animus against Prime Minister Narendra Modi blinds it to the broad daylight betrayal not only of a long-time ally, but, more importantly, of even a pro forma allegiance to secularism by the oldest party. In anything-goes-politics, Sonia Gandhi's party is now in bed with the Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. The two poles of communal politics thrive doing business with the self-avowedly secular Congress.

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