BLAST FROM THE PAST

ongress MP Rahul Gandhi was pleasantly surprised when told him the Shiv Sena had contested its first-ever election in Mumbai with Congress support in 1971. Gandhi met Raut to convince the Sena to join the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. The two parties are exploring a pre-poll alliance in UP and Goa. History could repeat itself, though the Congress is only a shadow of what it was in the 1970s.