The political crisis in Maharashtra played out at a national level on July 18 as the ruling NDA and Opposition parties got into a huddle to check who their friends are.
The recently split NCP had a presence at both meetings. While NCP supremo Sharad Pawar attended the Opposition meet in Bengaluru, his rebel nephew and now Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was seen at the NDA meet in New Delhi along with his loyalist Praful Patel.
The story was not different for the two Shiv Senas. While Uddhav Thackeray and Adtiya Thackeray were present at the Opposition alliance meet, Eknath Shinde - Maharashtra chief minister and the man who triggered the Sena Split - was the one to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the ruling coalition's meeting.