The Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congressgathered their MLAs at a five-star hotel in Mumbai this evening for a show ofstrength and administered a "oath of allegiance" hours after thethree parties staked claim to power. "I will not fall prey to any offer. Iwill not help the BJP in anyway. I will not indulge in any anti-partyactivities," the MLAs repeated, with a palm-out salute as they pledged notto betray their parties.

"We are 162" posters had been put up in theconference hall where the MLAs gathered, a giant image of the Constitution ofIndia also in the backdrop. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his daughter SupriyaSule, and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, werepresent as the MLAs chatted animatedly, took selfies, flashed victory signs andworked the room.

A "wide-angle camera" would be needed to capturethe gathering, said Uddhav Thackeray as he addressed the gathering. "Webelieve in Satyameva Jayate. We dare anyone to try and break us," said theShiv Sena chief.

Sharad Pawar reiterated that all NCP MLAs were with him."162 MLAs are here, we have a majority," he said.

The Sena's Sanjay Raut had "invited" GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari to attend the MLAs' parade. "We are all one andtogether , watch our 162 together for the first time at grand Hyatt at 7 pm ,come and watch yourself, Maharashtra Governor (sic)," Mr Raut had tweeted.

The three-party alliance, which calls itself the"Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi", approached the Governor three days afterthe BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister with the NCP's AjitPawar as his deputy, in an early morning oath ceremony that left everyone inshock.

Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar, had attended ameeting hours before on Friday evening, when the three parties had declaredthat they would form an alliance headed by Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister.

"Ajit Pawar tried to project that he had my blessingsbut he did this on his own. He though NCP MLAs would leave with him but theydidn't. This is Maharashtra, not Goa and we know how to teach a lesson to thoseplaying with fire, especially with the Sena on our side. You don't get power byplaying these games here," said Pawar senior to applause and cheers fromthe MLAs' gathering.

The BJP rejected the show of strength as party leader AshishShelar said, "Identification parade is done for criminal suspects... it isno floor test. It is a failed attempt to boost self-confidence. BJP and AjitPawar will ensure photo finish. Were even 145 MLAs present?"

The Sena, NCP and Congress have petitioned the Supreme Courtagainst the Governor's invite to the BJP and have asked for a trust vote at theearliest. The court will announce its decision tomorrow.

Fearing attempts to split their ranks, the parties havemoved their flock to various hotels to prepare for the test of strength thatthey say the BJP will definitely lose. Any party needs 145 MLAs for a majorityin the state assembly.

The Shiv Sena has submitted to the Governor signatures of 63MLAs (including independents), the Congress 44 and the NCP 51 (of 54). TheSamajwadi Party has submitted the signatures of two members.

In the Supreme Court, the Sena-NCP-Congress claimed thesupport of 154 MLAs, a few short of the number of signatures given to theGovernor. The NCP says the signatures are missing because lawmakers were ontheir way back at the time.

The BJP, which won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly,told the court it has the support of 170 MLAs, including all 54 of the NCP.

Sharad Pawar says 53 NCP MLAs are with the party. Three NCPsignatures missing from the letter submitted to the Governor this morning arethose of Ajit Pawar, Anna Bansod and Narhari Zhirwal.

No party won a majority in last month's Maharashtra polls.Pre-polls allies BJP and Sena won a majority together, but split over theSena's demand for rotational chief ministership.

The Sena then opened talks with ideological rivals NCP andCongress, but just as the alliance crystallised and they declared a chiefministerial candidate, the BJP appeared to have outmanoeuvred them.