Athawale adamant on 10 seats for Maharashtra polls

Mumbai: For the second time in a fortnight, Union Minister and Republican Party of India (A) chief Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday demanded 10 seats from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena as the countdown to Maharashtra elections got underway.
Speaking to media persons on Tuesday evening, Athawale also reiterated that his party would not contest the elections on the BJP’s lotus and will go to the hustings on its own symbol.
Athawale’s statement came nearly a fortnight after he first raised the demand at a party rally in Mumbai on September 5. Maharashtra will go to the polls in October for electing a new 288-member assembly.
Among the seats the RPI(A) has given as options which it wants to contest are: Kej, Udgir, Deglur, Gangakhed (all in Marathwada), Bhandara, Chandrapur, Umerkhed, Nagpur North, Pandharkavada, Aarni, Mehekar, Badnera (Vidarbha), Pimpri, Pune Cantt., Malsej, Mohol, Phaltan (all in Western Maharashtra), Bhusawal, Chalisgaon, Deolali, Shrirampur (North Maharashtra), Chembur, Mankhurd, Karjat and Khalapur (Mumbai-Konkan belt).
In the 2014 assembly elections, the RPI(A) had fought Ambernath, Chembur, Pimpri, Deglur, Mehekar, Vikhroli, Shivajinagar and Deolali, but all its candidates lost.
However, since the BJP-Sena have yet to finalise their alliance, it is not yet clear how many seats they are likely to allot to the other allies – RPI(A), Shiv Sangram Party, Rashtriya Samaj Party and Swabhimani Party.