Ramdas Athawale wants 10 out of 18 Assembly seats for RPI

Mumbai: It would be a tough task for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena to distribute seats among their smaller allies ahead of the Vidhan Sabha polls.

In the latest instance, Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale has demanded 10 out of a total of 18 seats earmarked for smaller allies. Moreover, the Union minister has also made it clear that his party would contest on its own symbol.

“BJP and Shiv Sena have decided to give 18 seats to allies. RPI has demanded 10 out of those 18 seats. We will contest on our own symbol in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. We do not want to fight on BJP’s symbol,” said Mr Athawale.

Apart from the Shiv Sena, smaller parties like the RPI (A), Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP), and Shiv Sangram are part of the BJP-Sena alliance.

The RSP, led by state minister Mahadev Jankar, had recently demanded 14 seats to contest the Assembly poll, which is likely to be held in October this year.

Mr Athawale has also hailed the Centre’s decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Revocation of Article 370 is a boon for Jammu and Kashmir. The businessmen should go there and generate employment for the locals. The decision will surely increase tourism in the region,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP and the Shiv Sena closed their first round of talks at Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil’s residence.

BJP leader and finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai also attended the meeting to formulate the seat sharing deal for the upcoming Assembly polls.

The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has 288 directly-elected seats.