AURANGABAD, Jan 15: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde predicted on Wednesday that the Lok Sabha polls in the state would witness a triangular contest between the BJP, Congress and the United Front.He, however, minced no words in asserting that his party had a clear advantage over the other two especially as the country was already witnessing the progressive rule by the Sena-BJP combine.
Speaking to reporters at a talk organised by the local City Channel Network, a cable operating new agency, Munde said his party was, nevertheless, well prepared for a one-to-one contest.
The fact that the Congress and UF had declared their intention to support each other to form a government was a clear indication that neither of them hoped to garner a majority on their own, Munde said. Munde, even before reporters could point out, touched upon the Sonia Gandhi influence factor saying the recent local self-government election in Uttar Pradesh, which often were symptomatic of pre-poll
voter inclinations, showed that Sonia had failed to sway the electorate towards Congress.
On the state front, Munde said his party along with the Shiv Sena would bag a minimum of 40 places. The party was concentrating on Bhandara, Nanded, Raigad, Ramtek and Pandharpur where its candidates had lost by a narrow margins to the Congress, Munde said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party planned to organise Dalit, scheduled tribes and minorities conventions on 24, 31 and February 7 at various places, he revealed. Munde categorically stated that his party had not deviated from stance to built a Ram temple at Ayodhya. Ever since the time of Jan Sangh we have some basic ideologies and principles with which we never compromise, and Hindutva is one among them, the deputy chief minister said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
