Athawale’s party to contest 8-10 seats in Haryana if no deal with BJP
BJP has not said anything about the possibility of a tie in the state where the elections are being held. | Photo: PTI
The Republican Party of India (Athawale), led by Chief Minister Ramdas Athawale, plans to contest the Haryana state assembly elections on 8-10 seats and support ally BJP in the remaining seats, party leaders said on Monday.
However, if an agreement is reached with the BJP, the RPA(A) will contest only two seats and leave the rest to the NDA’s senior partner, Ravi Sonu Kundli, president of the party’s Haryana unit, said here.
“Discussions are underway with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the allocation of seats. If no agreement is reached with the BJP, the Republican Party will field candidates for eight to 10 seats and support BJP candidates for the remaining 80 seats,” Kundli said.
He said the RPI (A) has emerged as a prominent party for Dalits in the country and will gain popularity in Haryana, where elections are scheduled for October 5. “The RPI (A) has emerged as a party of the weaker sections of the country, including Haryana. We are confident of a good performance,” Kundli said.
The RPI(A), which is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, had approached the BJP for an alliance and sought two reserved seats in the High Court – Mullana (Ambala) and Nilokheri (Karnal) – for the upcoming Haryana state Assembly elections.
However, the BJP has not yet said anything about a possible tie in the state where the elections are being held.
Meanwhile, Manju Chibbar, the North India president of RPI(A), said the party wants to expand its presence.
“We have contested the Punjab assembly elections earlier and we have two MLAs in Nagaland. We will contest the upcoming Haryana elections as well,” Chibbar said.
“If the BJP does not allocate us even two seats, we will field candidates on 10 seats and fight vigorously. Our alliance with the BJP is strong and the discussions on seat allocation are positive,” she said.
Chibbar also said that if there is no alliance with the BJP, they will still not campaign against the BJP. “Our aim is to focus on public welfare issues and serve the people of the state.
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First publication: 02 Sep 2024 | 22:05 IST