Athawale's party to contest 8-10 seats in Haryana if no agreement with BJP

Union minister Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India (Athawale) plans to fight the Haryana assembly polls on 8-10 seats and support ally BJP on the remaining, party leaders said here on Monday.

However, if an agreement is reached with the BJP, the RPA (A) will contest just two seats and leave the rest for the senior NDA partner, the party's Haryana unit president Ravi Sonu Kundli said here.

"Discussions are ongoing with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding seat allocation. If no agreement is reached with the BJP, the Republican Party will field candidates on 8 to 10 seats and support BJP candidates on the remaining 80 seats," Kundli said.

He said the RPI (A) has emerged as a prominent party for Dalits in the country, and it would gain traction in Haryana, which goes to polls on October 5. "The RPI(A) has emerged as a party of the weaker sections across the country including Haryana. We are confident of a good performance," Kundli said.

The RPI(A), which is a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the center, had approached the BJP for an alliance, and sought two SC-reserved seats -- Mullana (Ambala) and Nilokheri (Karnal) -- for the upcoming Haryana assembly polls.

However, the BJP has not said anything on the possibility of a tie-up in the poll-bound state.

RPI(A)'s north India president Manju Chibbar, meanwhile, said the party is looking at expanding its footprints.

"We had earlier fought Punjab assembly polls as well, and we have two MLAs in Nagaland. We are going to fight the upcoming Haryana polls too," Chibbar said.

"If the BJP does not allocate even two seats to us, we will field candidates on 10 seats and fight vigorously. Our alliance with the BJP is strong, and discussions on seat allocation are positive," she said.

Chibbar also said that in case there is no alliance with the BJP, they will still not campaign against the BJP. "Our goal is to focus on public welfare issues and serve the people of the state.