India, Feb. 27 -- Constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are reeling from a poor showing in the local polls in Maharashtra that, following as it does their poor showing in the 2024 assembly election, now face a challenge that could test their resolve to stay united, and it comes from an unlikely source, Sharad Pawar. This is ironic because the MVA, formed in November 2019, was the brainchild of Sharad Pawar, who outsmarted the NDA, which was poised to form the government, by weaning away the united Shiv Sena by offering to back party chief Uddhav Thackeray for the chief minister's office. While the alliance ruled till mid-2022, its formation set in motion a series of events that transformed Maharashtra politics in unexpected ways. The Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's own Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) underwent splits, forcing a realignment of forces in the state. This eventually resulted in a dip in Pawar's own fortunes, leaving him in charge of a smaller unit of the NCP, the NCP (SP). The unfortunate death, in an air crash, of NCP leader and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar (Pawar's nephew) came when the two factions were considering a merger - and may have effectively scuttled it. All of these mean that Pawar, now 86 and in indifferent health, no longer sets the agenda in Maharashtra politics. The Rajya Sabha (RS) elections present a problem, both for Pawar and the MVA. The MVA has the numbers to get, at best, one MP elected to the RS, but all three constituents, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Congress, and NCP (SP), have staked a claim. The RS polls will test the MVA's unity. The Sena (UBT) and Congress have more legislators than NCP(SP), and are also wary of the latter, especially on account of its merger talks with the NCP. Pawar has now thrown his hat in the ring - NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule has sought the seat for her father - and is likely to force the MVA constituents to rethink their priorities. Sharad Pawar has completed two terms in the Upper House and previously expressed his intent to retire from the RS, but it is clear that he is having a rethink, perhaps because the merger with the NCP isn't happening (at least, not immediately), and the party needs him. It isn't clear whether the other MVA constituents will back him. At one time, they might have found it difficult to say no to Pawar. And even if they eventually decide to back him, the election will test their unity....