The Shiv Sena has finally decided to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), making their alliance official on Monday. But after almost five years of sabre-rattling and near-constant criticism, has the truce deal come a little too late in the day? Back when the Sena had announced its decision of contesting all seats on its own, several interested candidates, including sitting ministers, started preparing for a fight against BJP. Now that a truce deal has been finalised, however, the party will find it hard to placate these candidates, many of whom may even rebel. In Jalna, for instance, Arjun Khotkar, who was preparing to contest against BJP's Raosaheb Patil Danve, said he would propose a "friendly fight" against the BJP. "We were asked to start preparing for the polls two years ago. Accordingly, I have been canvassing in the constituency. I will ask Uddhav saheb about what to do next," Khotkar said. A Sena MLA from rural Maharashtra, meanwhile, went so far as to call the tie-up "political suicide". Sainiks admit to a drift in the ranks, and doubt if vote transfer between the two will take place. "Our workers are upset. They were taking on the BJP at the grassroots. How can they now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them now and seek votes?" asked another leader, who even claimed the Sena may have witnessed an influx of leaders from Opposition parties in some constituencies if they had fought the polls alone. Meghana Sakore-Bordikar, daughter of former Congress MLA Ramprasad Bordikar, said she was preparing to contest as a BJP candidate from Parbhani, which is held by Sena's Sanjay (Bandu) Jadhav. She admitted to "pressure" from workers to fight the polls against Sena. With Sena managing to wrest an additional seat from BJP, sources said this is likely to be Palghar, where BJP's Rajendra Gavit had won a keenly contested by-election last year. A senior BJP leader from the constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes, said they were upset at the party's plans of giving up the seat to the Shiv Sena, with many local functionaries resigning in protest. TENSIONS RUN HIGH

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