New Delhi:
With just one more phase of polling to go, political parties are hard at work, desperately struggling to cobble up alliances.
As the alliance clock ticks away, ideology and issues seem to have taken a back seat for the national parties and the regional players. The only mantra seems to be - any party will do as an alliance partner so long as they can help in government formation in New Delhi.
Categorical statements by top leaders about not allying with certain parties have been quickly forgotten, depending on their war room assessments of the possible outcome after the first four phases.
After Nitish Kumar made it clear that he's firmly with the NDA, the Congress seems to be now tilting towards making up with Lalu's RJD and Mulayam's Samajwadi Party.
The NDA, after getting a boost from TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao and Nitish Kumar, seems to be wooing former NDA ally and now Third Front partner - TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.
The BJP is also hoping that Jayalalithaa will throw her weight behind the NDA once the verdict is out.
The CPM has now made a distinction between its pre-poll and post-poll stand, meaning it is open to talks with the Congress after the results are out on Saturday. Karat had earlier told NDTV that the Left would prefer to sit in the Opposition than ally with the Congress.
Mulayam Singh Yadav is part of the Bihar Troika with Lalu and Paswan but he has made it clear that he's willing to ally with anyone who will dismiss the Mayawati government.
The other big player, Mayawati, is with the Third Front for now but since the Front has refused to project her as its prime ministerial candidate, she's keeping her options open. The NDA is said to be wooing her.
AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa is with the Third Front for now but she seems to be keeping her options open and the NDA is said to be wooing her too.
And finally, the BJD's Naveen Patnaik could play a crucial role in the post- poll scenario though he has made it clear he's with the Third Front and will back only a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the Centre.