Pawar's expulsion from the Congress and his good relations with senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan had led to speculation that an alliance, at least in Maharashtra, was on the cards.

``The foreigner issue was raised by us ever since Sonia Gandhi declared her intention to occupy the top political post, and now Pawar has done the same. However, it doesn't mean that we will join hands with him in the mid-term polls,'' a senior Bharatiya Janata Party minister said.

The party's logic is that it will be better served by Pawar standing on his own and splitting the Congress vote than joining hands with the Sena-BJP and polarising the electorate.

``We feel that Maharashtra should witness triangular fights between the Sena-BJP,Congress and the Pawar-led front'', the minister said.

A pre-election understanding, he said, would not indicate Pawar's true strength in Maharashtra.

``As a leader of the Congress (S) more than a decade ago, he was able to secure 52 seats in the Assembly, but in the subsequent parliamentary elections, he was the lone winner. Since then, the political situation in Maharashtra has completely changed following the Sena-BJP's emergence.''

In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had reached an electoral understanding with the Republican Party of India and Samajwadi Party. It paid off, as the Congress secured 33 seats, the RPI won all the four seats it contested and the ruling Sena-BJP alliance just 10 seats.

``The political situation has changed drastically. Pawar has been expelled from the Congress and there will be no alliance between the Congress and the SP headed by Mulayam Singh,'' the minister asserted. Secondly, even the RPI is said to be divided over an alliance with the Congress.

Whyno BJP pact with Pawar