New Delhi: With just four days left for the D-day, political parties worked overtime to stitch post-poll alliances that can take a shot at government formation.
And in a signal that the Third Front may crack, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her Delhi residence on Tuesday with his face covered.
This is an indication that the Congress has started talking to all possible allies including JD(S).
However, Kumaraswamy just after his meeting with Congress president clarified that he is not leaving Third Front.
Earlier speaking to NDTV, Kumaraswamy had indicated that the JD(S) would back the Congress if it had to.
The BJP was also trying to woo TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and the PM called Nitish Kumar.
"Every party, every group is negotiating and everybody is in everybody's strategy," was the punchline delivered by JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday as parties tried to reach out to rivals.
In other developments, war room meetings were underway as the Congress, BJP and the Left reworked strategies and scouted for new allies while it was a case of who will blink first on the possibility of Samajwadi joining the Third Front, a grouping of Left and regional parties. The SP also set conditions like "No BSP".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's telephone call to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar whose secular credentials he had questioned on Monday also provided fodder for intense speculation, especially after the JD(U) leader rebuffed Congress' overtures.
But Nitish made it clear no political message be read and that he was firmly with the NDA. "The call is not for anything about me but about welfare of Bihar," he said, adding the conversation related to the Kosi flood relief row.
And there was no dearth of claims by major alliances about new allies gravitating towards them.
BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said, "Any party which is willing to support Advani as Prime Minister, any party which is willing to work with the NDA is welcome. This is the general stand and there are a number of people who are inclined towards us."
(With PTI inputs)