RPI president and member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, Ramdas Athawale, tried to maintain equidistance from both the Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar groups of Congress, but was firm in saying that the split would help only the BJP in the ensuing elections.

Athawale, who was here on Sunday, said that both the Congress factions were in touch with the RPI for making a formal electoral alliance in the coming elections. ``I received phone calls from Pawar, as well as Sonia Gandhi, for making alliance with them,'' he claimed.

He said that the party would take a formal decision on an electoral alliance with either of them in its national executive committee meeting to be next held at New Delhi on June 12.

The RPI leader refused tocomment on the issue raised by Sharad Pawar, P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar, about the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi and their subsequent expulsion from the party. ``I don't want to comment on it right now. It is an internal matter of the Congress. However, the issue may be figured in the national executive committee meeting of the party to be held at Delhi and the party may take a stand on it,'' he said. On the other hand, senior RPI leader and another member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, R S Gavai, asserted that his party would make an electoral alliance with the Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi. He took a strong exception over the issue raised by the expelled Congress trio about the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi.

The RPI had decided in its national executive committee meeting, held in the Union Capital on May 11 last, that it would make an electoral alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra and other parts of the country before the present political developments.

However, Athawale is considered to be veryclose to Pawar and hence, he might insist on making an alliance with Pawar faction in the State. But a large section of party functionaries, including its general secretary, Jogendra Kawade and Gavai, may force the organisation to make a poll pact with the Congress, led by Sonia.

Kawade refused to comment on the issue. ``The issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi is a serious one and it can only be decided in the national executive committee meeting,'' he said.

Both Athawale and Kawade made it clear that they would make an alliance with such a Congress faction, which would be able to prevent the `communal' BJP from coming into power at the Centre.

The RPI leaders felt that the recent split in the Congress would only help the BJP in the coming elections and hence there was a need for a patch up in the interest of the country.

Athawale predicted that not a single party would get an absolute majority in the coming elections and a coalition government is inevitable at the Centre.

To another question,he reiterated that some top BJP leaders tried to bribe them during the confidence motion of the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government. However, he refused to name those leaders. ``I don't want to expose them,'' he said.