Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, whose Republican Party of India is part of the NDA government, has expressed his dissatisfaction over the seat-sharing agreement in the Mahayuti camp for the Maharashtra assembly elections.
Ramdas Athawale on Sunday met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the seat-sharing talks and said his party is not getting any seats in the alliance.
The union minister said he demanded at least 2 seats from the ruling alliance for his Republican Party of India, however, he was not assured of any seats by Fadnavis. The meeting comes amid growing unease in the Mahayuti Alliance party over the seat-sharing formula in the state.
BREAKING | रामदास अठावले की देवेंद्र फडणवीस से मुलाकात
– अठावले ने कम से कम 2 सीटों की मांग की@chitraaum | https://t.co/smwhXURgtc
#MahaDangalWithChitra #ChitraTripathiOnABP #RamdasAthawale #Politics #AssemblyElections #LatestUpdates pic.twitter.com/vsSXDwsg4h
— ABP News (@ABPNews) October 27, 2024
Athawale, speaking to the reporters after the meeting, said, “The Republican Party of India is not getting any seat in (Mahayuti alliance). This is a major setback for my community. It is not good for the Mahayuti to neglect RPI.”
He further said that his party was hopeful of getting 4-5 seats in the alliance.
उपमुख्यमंत्री देवेंद्र फडणवीस यांची आज मुंबईत भेट घेऊन जागावाटपावर चर्चा केली.रिपब्लिकन पक्ष राज्यात प्रमुख पक्ष असून जागावाटप बाबत रिपब्लिकन कार्यकर्ते नाराज असल्याचे सांगितले. pic.twitter.com/nCnpaGQKQn
— Dr.Ramdas Athawale (@RamdasAthawale) October 27, 2024
In a post on X, Athawale shared a photo of his meeting with Fadnavis and said, “Met Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today in Mumbai and discussed about seat distribution. Republican Party is the leading party in the state and the Republican activists said that they are unhappy about the seat distribution.”
Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on November 20 and the counting of votes will take place three days later. Two of the three Mahayuti allies – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena – have separately released their first list of candidates, while the third partner, Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has come out with two lists of nominees so far. Discussions are still on over seven to eight seats. Meanwhile, the BJP is set to release its second list of candidates.
