RPI seeks 10 seats to contest in Maharashtra polls

BJP's ally Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale on Sunday said that he has demanded 10 seats to contest in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

"We have put forth the demand to contest 10 Assembly seats in the upcoming polls as we have a large vote share among the Dalits population. We are certain that we will win at least 8-9 seats," Athawale told ANI.

The Assembly polls in the state are slated to be held later this year.

In 2014, RPI, which was a part of BJP-led alliance in the state, had contested on eight seats.

Athawale said that this time, his party, BJP and Shiv Sena will fight the polls together and collectively win over 240 seats out of the total 288 seats in the House.

Closed-door parleys between Shiv Sena and BJP to arrive at a consensus on seat-sharing are underway, he said.

Shiv Sena and BJP had fought the last Assembly elections separately after failing to arrive at a seat-sharing formula.

Assembly elections in Maharashtra are slated to take place in October.

Meanwhile, When asked about Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent comment that "Hindi should be India's common and unifying language", the 59-year-old said that the notion was "correct".

Shah faced the wrath of opposition parties for his comments. Following his comment, DMK chief MK Stalin said that such a remark "poses a danger to the national unity.