quot;Kamat8217;s victory is a miraclequot;

MUMBAI, March 3: Bharatiya Janata Party8217;s national general secretary Pramod Mahajan today blamed his defeat against Congress candidate Gurudas Kamat on the alliance between the Congress, Republican Party and Samajwadi Party. He termed Kamat8217;s victory a quot;miraclequot;, as no MP had been elected thrice from that constituency.

Addressing a conference at the party headquarters, he denied that the Ramabai Nagar incident on July 11, 1997, was responsible for his defeat, but admitted that it did have some political repercussions. quot;The Dalits were naturally pained due to the incident,quot; he stated, adding, quot;I have fared badly in Trombay.quot; Mahajan also informed that he had sent his resignation as general secretary to party president LK Advani owning responsibility for the debacle of the party in the state, but was told not to create new problems by resigning.

Mahajan claimed that there was no decrease in the percentage of votes he polled as compared to last elections.

quot;The Congress got 75,000 of the 1.

25 lakhextra votes polled this time,quot; he stated. He also dismissed any threat to the BJP-Sena government in the state and said that his party would form the government at the Centre though they were short of an absolute majority.

However, Mahajan did not reveal how his party would manage the remaining seats. He also disclaimed his statement to a private television channel where he had stated that the BJP would not form the government if they did not secure an absolute majority. When reminded of it, he said, quot;I do not recall having said anything of this sort.quot;