Kanshi will, if Pawar proposes

Asked if these included the recently formed Rashtrawadi Congress Party he said: 8220;Why not? If they put forward a proposal for coalition we will be willing to join them.8221; The BSP chief8217;s tirade against the Republican Party of India RPI last year, again in Thane, 8212; he had called it 8220;a bunch of Mahars8221; 8212; ensured that the Dalits ignored the event completely.

In an apparent attempt tosmoothen ruffled feathers, Kanshi Ram spoke at length on the state8217;s heroes 8212; Jyotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu and B R Ambedkar 8212; and held forth on Maharashtra8217;s contribution to Dalit emancipation, but failed to enthuse the minuscule gathering.

The split in the Congress, he added, would not benefit the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the state. 8220;The Pawar factor will have an impact only in Maharashtra but at the same time, it will not benefit the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in the state,8221; he told PTI. The BSP leader who recently toured South India, said the Congress was improving its position in the region, asserting that his party would strive to curb the trend. 8220;The BSP will try to see that BJP gets less than 150 seats and the Congress less than 140 seats in the Lok Sabha,8221; he said.

He also predicted another mid-term poll next year. Kanshi Ram said the BSP would contest all Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and field about 150 candidates in seven other neighbouring states. He however refused to comment on hiscurrent equation with the RPI. 8220;They have started the war between us so let them talk peace first,8221; he told The Indian Express.