India, July 13 -- Will veteran politician Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) finally join the BJP-led NDA, as is being speculated? Will the 85-year-old leader announce his retirement and let others in his party join the NDA? Will he merge his party with the Congress? Or just maintain status quo? While the first half of the monsoon session of the state legislature was about the split in the Shiv Sena (UBT), the political discourse in the second half of the session was dominated by these questions.

There have been speculations that Pawar is negotiating a deal with the BJP to join the NDA. According to party insiders, Pawar has tasked senior leader Jayant Patil with the job of talking to those who are opposed to the proposal. At the same time, leaders ...