New Delhi: Just a day after Sharad Pawar's meeting with Congress leaders in the name of "opposition unity", his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) announced that it may contest next month's Karnataka election.
The NCP is planning to contest 40-45 seats in the May 10 Karnataka election, in regions where the BJP, Congress and Janata Dal Secular (JDS) are locked in a triangular contest.
The decision, which is a huge blow to larger opposition unity, is reportedly linked to the NCP losing its national status recently.
"We have to take steps to regain our national party status," NCP leader Praful Patel said.
The NCP has been allotted its alarm clock symbol for the Karnataka elections by the Election Commission.
The NCP is expected to partner with the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti in the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary region, which is home to a sizeable Marathi population.
The NCP's presence is most likely to impact its ally Congress, which fancies its chances in this election, with the ruling BJP fighting allegations of corruption and anti-incumbency.
Last evening, Sharad Pawar met with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, in an important outreach at a time the NCP chief's recent comments indicated a divide within the opposition on the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the Adani-Hindenburg row.
However, the NCP's move to contest an election in which it will likely eat into the Congress's votes may not go down well with its ally.
The NCP lost its "national party" status earlier this week and also its "state party" status in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya.
A "national party" tag allows an organisation to get a common poll symbol across the country, more star campaigners, free air time on national broadcasters for election campaigns and by convention office space in Delhi.
The Trinamool Congress and the CPI also lost their "national party" status. The Election Commission has said these parties can regain their status based on their performance in future elections, including the Lok Sabha election next year.