“India is facing a financial crisis and liquidity crunch, besides the country’s inflation, drought and increasing petrochemical prices situation – but not the BJP — being serious, and the ruling party can bring in a financial emergency by also quoting the Reserve Bank of India crisis,” according to Prakash Ambedkar, President of the Bhartiya Republican Party Mahasangh.

“The RBI is not ready to give funds to the Central Government, which is in favour of the rich in a situation where the rich will remain rich and the poor will remain poor unless the various sectors like farming — that are in need of aid — are given timely support and much-needed changes ushered in alongside all concerned working together,” he told mediapersons here today.

Lambasting the RSS as being +hegemonistic+ and seeking an +Apna Desh+, Ambedkar said the RSS was not viewing the country as one natural boundary or a multicultural nation. “The Parliament is not a supreme being and there is need to hold a referendum on the Ayodhya and Ram Mandir issue. However, nothing will be imposed on us. With unity being the need of the hour, we have approached the Congress for a tie-up with us in the forthcoming election but there has been no response from them so far,” he said.

“Today the situation is such that two alternatives present themselves: Purchase votes, or Capture Votes. We prefer the option of capturing votes – though only through dialogue and understanding. If you don’t want culture, then there are other remedies including holding a referendum,” he said while referring to the case of Goa. “In Goa, the then Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar wanted to merge Goa into Maharashtra, but had to give up this idea after the 1967 Referendum – called The Goa Opinion Poll — held in the State showed that Goans were against this merger and preferred keeping its own separate identity as Goa.”

To a question about the Shiv Sena, he said this party has taken on a new shape and is not having the +guts+ to move out of the situation it is in presently.

Where alliance with other parties was concerned, he said that he had met Maharashtra Congress leaders in regard to his party tying up with them for seat-sharing and that he had been assured that his proposal had been sent to the Congress High Command including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for the green signal.