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Kanshi Ram prepares for second marriage with Akalis

The Bahujan Samaj Party has expressed willingness to revive its alliance with the Akali Dal, provided the latter severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"Let the Akalis first part with the BJP. An alliance with the BSP will follow," said its supremo Kanshi Ram, confirming he met Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra on Sunday in Chandigarh.

Kanshi Ram said that during their 30-minute discussions Tohra briefed him how Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has become so thick with the BJP that he ignores the interests of the people.

According to him, it was Tohra who expressed desire to tie-up. ''I told him that this would be possible after the Akali Dal snaps its relations with the BJP,'' he said.

The BSP leader also had talks with other Akali Dal splinters on Sunday.

The Akali Dal and BSP jointly contested the May 1996 parliamentary poll. They swept it in Punjab, winning 12 of the 13 Lok Sabha seats. The relation broke when the Akalis chose to go with the BJP in the assembly election that followed.

UNI

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