Maharashtra Rickshaw Sena chief Nana Kshirsagar has entered the fray in Kasba Peth under the banner of a new party — Bharatiya Garib Party (BGP), but not to win.

Kshirsagar is expecting around 10,000-15,000 votes, which he is sure would either be from the kitty of Congress- NCP candidate Rohit Tilak or BJP MLA Girish Bapat. “We are representing the poorest of the poor in the state. We have seven candidates contesting from various segments. I have been working for the uplift of the neglected classes for the past 30 years. My vote bank does not have a caste. My candidature will give an option to the voters of Bapat and Tilak.”

Kshirsagar’s party emblem — pati — stands for the common people he represents. And these days, you can see him on his bicycle campaigns and foot marches clad in military uniform — projecting his involvement in the Kargil war — in the constituency.

Ironically, while ‘vote for us’ remains the common slogan in all election campaigns, Kshirsagar and his activists take out foot marches, asking people not to vote for him. “This is an emotional appeal to the poor which will have the desired impact. We have no agendas or manifestoes because we know that there is no scope for representatives of poor in this country,” said Kshirsagar.

After withdrawing his nomination for the Lok Sabha elections, Kshirsagar is on his first electoral stint and is banking entirely on the delimitation process that has added some parts of Parvati, Shivajinagar and Bhavani Peth constituency to Kasba Peth. “A majority of the population lives in the slums. Be it the BJP’s Hindu vote bank or Congress vote bank of Dalits, Muslims and others, we have worked for them all as a majority of them are poor. We are sure that they will vote for us. And though this will not fetch us the win, we are sure that we will be responsible for the division of votes that can result in the defeat of one of the two — Bapat or Tilak,” said Kshirsagar.