When Maharashtra's long standing political alliances were being torn asunder just before the polls, there was one man everyone was pointing to: NCP's unquestioned leader and arch manipulator Sharad Pawar. He was the man seen to be egging on Shiv Sena to split the alliance, the BJP to go it alone and then turning around and breaking his own secular alliance with the Congress.

And when the NCP shockingly announced its unconditional support to the BJP with uncharacteristic hurry even before the Sena could do so, it proved that Pawar was all along the silent villain, playing one party against the other in order to give himself and NCP a fighting chance of survival when the electorate was being polarised.

So is Sharad Pawar the villain (or hero for that matter) of the great Maharashtra political realignment? Though he has often murmured his innocence of all this skullduggery attributed to him, it is almost clear that he was playing one against the other in his keenest to remain relevant. As of now, he seems to have succeeded. If the Sena finally joins the government, then NCP and Pawar will face its ire as well.

The 73-year-old's strategy may have been to kill two birds with one stone. By offering to support BJP, his idea may have been to keep Sena away from power for another five years. But Sena may yet elbow its way into the government, though BJP perceives it as a troublesome ally. Also, Pawar may have wanted to prevent Congress from becoming the main opposition party.

Pawar finally shed the only fig leaf of ideological pretence that he held aloft during the 10-year UPA rule: that his party was secular and would not back any communal party like the BJP. Now, he and his party has been outed for what it is: bereft of any ideology with its antenna always turning with the political wind.

A senior NCP leader justified the decision to dna thus: "Any one can leave and join any party irrespective of their ideology and policy. People in politics are mere opportunists. And, to survive to remain in power is important. If you are out of power, you are unable to develop and nurture the constituency by bringing infrastructure and developmental projects. That helps to elect as many as seats even during the odd situations. Therefore, the NCP has extended its outside support to BJP even though we do not share the same ideology."

According to another NCP leader, Pawar and prime minister Narendra Modi share a cordial relationship. "During the Congress-led UPA government, Pawarsaheb was the only person who shared stage with Modi. At the senior level, both BJP and NCP leaders had spoken with each other and decided to work out this formula. Union minister Nitin Gadkari played a vital role in getting the NCP's unconditional support. In politics equations always change. Our support is from outside so we are not sharing neither power nor ideology with BJP," he said.

Pawar having played the game of his life must now watch around him. By his constant manipulations, he seems to have created many enemies. If the BJP does not now welcome him and his party with a red carpet, there might be trouble for him.