In a major jolt to the Congress and NCP, which are already struggling against anti-incumbency, leaders of the Muslim community, which are seen as their core voters, are planning to support the Shiv Sena or BJP in return for assurances regarding their "basic problems" being addressed.

In what may hurt the NCP, which has split with the Congress, with whom it has been in power since 1999, Muslim leaders led by its minority cell chief Habib Fakih have walked out of the party over differences with the leadership including former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and are likely to join the Shiv Sena. They are also angry with Muslims being neglected in nominations to the state assembly elections from minority pockets in Marathwada and Vidarbha.

The assembly elections in Maharashtra on October 15, will be multi-cornered ones with the constituents of the two main political alliances—Congress- NCP and Shiv Sena- BJP deciding to contest independently. Smaller parties like the MNS, AIMIM and others may play spoilers in a contest where victory may be dictated by wafer-thin margins. "We want to trounce the Congress and NCP. The time is ripe for it," said Shabbir Ansari of the All India Muslim OBC Organisation (AIMOBC), adding that they were in touch with the Shiv Sena and BJP.

Ansari said they were open to supporting these pro-Hindutva parties if they publicly promised to address their "basic problems" like innocent youth being framed the police, fast-tracking pending criminal cases against them, protecting wakf board lands, easing the grant of caste and validity certificates to OBC Muslims and providing employment to Muslim youth. Ansari, who was appointed as the head of a committee of community leaders to negotiate with political parties on the issue, said they would soon decide on whether they wanted to support the Shiv Sena or the BJP.

"Till now, the Congress and NCP have played with the emotions of the Muslims and used them. They projected the Shiv Sena and BJP as communal. There are no doubts that the Shiv Sena and BJP took a communal line as they did not get Muslim votes and hence wanted to consolidate majority votes. However, we want to go with them and see if they are really communal or not," said community leader Ghulam Peshimam, who is part of the committee. "No one is untouchable for us.

It will be good if we join hands," said Peshimam, who is part of the Muslims for Secular Democracy (MSD) and contested the elections from Srivardhan in Raigad against NCP state chief Sunil Tatkare in 2004, adding that they were likely to take a decision on Monday on whether to support the Sena or the BJP. He said they would also campaign for the party they chose to support.

Meanwhile, Fakih, who was part of the NCP's parliamentary board and was among its star campaigners, said he had quit the party with around 65% of minority workers. He added that most of his activists were in favour of joining the Shiv Sena and said he would take a decision soon after consulting his associates. Fakih, who hails from Raigad district, attacked Ajit Pawar and Tatkare and pointed to how Muslims had been denied a fair share of nominationsin regions where they had substantial numbers like Marathwada and Vidarbha. The NCP has nominated just nine Muslims to contest the polls, he added.

"This is the party of Ajit Dada, not Pawar saheb (NCP chief and former union minister Sharad Pawar)," said Fakih, while alleging that the Ajit- Tatkare duo was taking decisions with their clique on distributing nominations without consulting others. He charged that while leaders of the party's youth, women and backward classes cell were given berths in the legislative council, minority cell leaders had been neglected.