There is a fringe party leader in the fray for a much coveted local body chair campaigning these days under the close watch of an elite security detail. The threat to his life is believed to be emanating from a high-up of the very alliance he is representing, they say.

A Green party purohita handling a secretarial job the other day asked this fringe party leader whether he would throw his weight behind the Greens if by any chance they were compelled to go it alone.

This query riled the leader facing the death threat. His answer to this query was a counter-query: “Why don’t you first discipline the big one in your own party who is out for my blood?”

He added: “If you fail to take action against my enemy – who by the way has become a problem to your party itself – our party may have to take a serious decision which you may not like!”