Union Minister Ramdas Athawale slams BJP-Shiv Sena seat-sharing decision, says RPI-(A) should get one seat to contest, if NDA wants to return to power

A day after BJP and Shiv Sena confirmed that the two parties will form an alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha as well as state elections, Union Minister and Republican Party of India (Athawale) Chief, Ramdas Athawale asserted that if the NDA wants to return to power, it should give his party at least one seat to contest in Maharashtra.

The BJP-Shive Sena alliance on Monday announced that the two parties will fight in equal number of seats in the state elections, while for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will contest from 25 seats and Shiv Sena will contest from 23 seats.

After the announcement of seat sharing between Shiv Sena and BJP in Maharashtra for upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Ramdas Athawale stated that if his party RPI (A) did not get even a single seat, then votes of the Dalits in the state for BJP-Shiv Sena will be affected.

"If they want to come back to power in state and NDA wants to come back at the Centre, RPI(A) will contribute, so we should be given a seat. We will meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray," he said.

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Stating that there have been no talks on seat-sharing from BJP-Shiv Sena alliance with him, he further added, "I believe if BJP, Shiv Sena and RPI(A) come together in Maharashtra, we can win 43 to 44 seats. But there has been no deliberation upon seat distribution to RPI(A). It might create unhappiness among the Dalit community. I had asked for one seat."

Earlier on Monday, BJP chief Amit Shah had said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shiv Sena and BJP will fight shoulder to shoulder to win the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Maharashtra.

PM Modi also took to Twitter to express his happiness and satisfaction over the massive political development. PM Modi stated that this alliance will help the NDA significantly and the two parties will continue working together for the vision which was inspired by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

READ: OFFICIAL: BJP, Shiv Sena Confirm Alliance For 2019 Lok Sabha And State Elections