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Sonia calls on Kanshi Ram

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 23. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today called on the ailing Bahujan Samaj Party supremo, Kanshi Ram, to enquire about his health. Mr. Ram has been admitted to a private hospital here following a brain haemorrhage. Although the visit was being described as a courtesy call, it assumes significance in the wake of reports that the ties between the two parties, the Congress and the BSP, were warming up. It was on Saturday last, that the newly-appointed BSP president, Mayawati, heaped praise on Ms. Gandhi.

The BSP president described Ms. Gandhi's conduct as "warm and humane'', which came after the later spoke to Ms. Mayawati and sent her good wishes for the speedy recovery of Mr. Ram. In fact, Ms. Mayawati juxtaposed Ms. Gandhi's gesture with the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who till then had not enquired about the health of the ailing BSP leader.

Ever since the BSP-BJP coalition arrangement in Uttar Pradesh fell apart, reports started surfacing about the possibility of the Congress willing to re-consider opening a window with the BSP. It is another matter that both the BSP and the Congress have been maintaining that there were no talks about any understanding ahead of the Assembly polls due later this year.

Even today, the Congress downplayed when Ms. Gandhi called on Mr. Ram and spent 45-minutes at the hospital. The BSP president, Ms. Mayawati, was also present on the occasion. Of the States where Assembly polls are due, the BSP has considerable presence in Madhya Pradesh and to a lesser extent in Chhattisgarh and Delhi. In Delhi, the BSP has dominant presence in some pockets.

Meanwhile, the Indian Justice Party chief, Udit Raj, today charged that Ms. Mayawati prevented him from calling on Mr. Kanshi Ram. In a statement, Mr. Raj said he along with his party general secretary, Nandita Bakshi, were turned away at the hospital this morning by the security personnel. Mr. Raj, a former Revenue Service officer, and his party has been making attempts to woo the same section of voters, who are with the BSP.

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