Two lions on a mountain in Putrajaya

The masks have come off as Anwar and Ahmad Zahid exchanged barbs that barely concealed their splintered relationship and signalled that the end is not far away.

THE opinion out there is that Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi went for the kill on the Umno stage last weekend.

The Umno president was provocative, aggressive and sardonic and by the time the party's general assembly wrapped up on Saturday (Sept 12) evening, it was evident that things will not be the same again between him and his cikgu, now better known as his guru.

The strained ties between the Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been an open secret for months.

Their friendship has been blowing hot and cold after their parties took on each other in the Johor and Negri Sembilan elections and more so after Umno aligned with Perikatan Nasional.

It is pretty much splintered by now and the cracks reached across the Indian Ocean to New Delhi where Anwar was attending the BRICS Summit.

According to an aide to a former minister, some were initially sceptical and there were murmurs whether the pair would be calling each other on the phone later on.

Some of them were thinking: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

They have not forgotten Ahmad Zahid’s "No Anwar! No DAP!" declaration at a past Umno assembly that was followed by the unforgettable phone call that gave birth to the "anak murid" and "cikgu" terminology.

"It’s for real, the falling-out has become too public to ignore. There will be more fireworks ahead,” said a PKR division leader from Perak.

The PM arrived in New Delhi wearing what some thought was a rather casual outfit given the formal welcome with a guard of honour flanking the red carpet.

That has become the "Anwar style" – songkok, baju Melayu worn with the top hanging loosely over the samping, and chapals on his feet.

His tongue-in-cheek social media post in reaction to Ahmad Zahid’s presidential speech was even bigger news than the anak murid’s jibes at his guru.

Anwar pointed out that he was carrying Malaysia’s name abroad and reminded the anak murid to learn from the guru’s art of diplomacy.

It was a first-class response – light-hearted on the surface, yet it carried the sting of a thousand bees.

"The PM was trying not to look wounded, to brush it off like water off a duck’s back. But it is hard not to feel hurt because Zahid said it on such a big stage and drew a standing ovation from the Umno delegates," said the above aide to a former minister.

Ahmad Zahid’s political capital has risen after two successful state elections and he no longer saw himself as the protege but an equal to the guru.

The recent Umno general assembly saw the World Trade Centre venue packed with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.

"Our party grassroots have returned. They stayed away the last few years because they did not like our leaders working with DAP," said supreme council member Datuk Seri Sharkar Shamsudin.

PKR did not hold back on bashing Umno during their annual congress and Anwar had anticipated that Umno would return fire.

Hence, his pow-wow on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 committee meeting with the Chief Ministers of Sabah and Sarawak last Friday was timely, with the optics directed at Umno.

He is telling Umno that the numbers in Parliament will still be there if Sarawak and Sabah stand by the Madani government.

As such, Anwar flew off to New Delhi from Kota Kinabalu, assured that there is a government to come home to.

"Anwar is saying he can survive without Umno. Ahmad Zahid, in challenging Anwar to sack Umno from the government, is saying the government would not be stable without the party," said the above aide.

Sharkar, who is also Pahang state assembly Speaker, said Umno will not collapse the government despite the differences between the top two.

"They are seasoned politicians who know how to play to their own gallery. Zahid was trying to build up the mood ahead of the Melaka election, to project that Umno is ready for another blue wave," said Sharkar.

The above Perak PKR leader is spot on in anticipating more fireworks in the coming months because there cannot be two lions on a mountain.

"There will be a gradual uncoupling in the run-up to the next general election," said the above aide to a former minister.

It is hard to say who had the upper hand at the end of the day.

Ahmad Zahid has won the numbers game. Umno is a party with real members and he has them in the palm of his hand.

Anwar, on his part, has shown that his government is intact even if Umno leaves. But his own party is rather broken and as some in Umno pointed out, he cannot even control his own daughter from leaving.

However, he was there on the global stage, holding hands with Indian PM Narendra Modi and meeting other world leaders at the BRICS Summit while Ahmad Zahid played to the Umno gallery.

Anwar’s social media on his India trip is filled with Hindi songs and his effort at singing a song from an old Bollywood movie was praised as "so melodious".

It was not melodious and singing is not his forte but he gets 10/10 for effort.

Finally, the DPM must not underestimate the PM’s powers of incumbency.