He said the Congress was willing to have an alliance with all factions of the RPI, but if this did not come about, the party would win the majority on its own. He ruled out an alliance with the Samajwadi Party either.as the leadership of that party had decided to contest all the 288 seats in the State.

The Congress alliance with the RPI and Samajwadi Party in the last Lok Sabha elections led to a Shiv Sena-BJP combine rout, he said. Answering questions on the possibility of reviving the alliance for the Assembly elections, Bhosale said the RPI was divided into two factions -- one led by Ramdas Athavale and another by Prakash Ambedkar.

In response to a question, Bhosale said the controversy over the Pakistan cricketteam playing in India seemed to be a natak between the Shiv Sena and BJP, coalition partners in the State. He alleged that Sena chief Bal Thackeray was in the habit of holding the country to ransom to satisfy his ego.

The MPCC president said he was not invited to the convention of his partymen from Vidarbha to be held at Yavatmal on January 31 to mobilise support for a separate Vidarbha state. He told a questioner there was no need for the party leadership's permission to hold such conventions. As far he was concerned, he would abide by the decision of the party high command on the issue, he added.