Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said the ruling alliance will win at least 170 seats in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls.
The Mahayuti comprises Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, the BJP, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and smaller parties like Athawale’s RPI(A).
He said his party had consistently garnered Dalit votes for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance across the country and should have got four to five seats instead of the one earmarked for it in the Mahayuti’s seat sharing agreement.
“The Ladki Bahin Yojana is very effective and popular. We will contest on the development plank under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This time Dalits, OBCs and Marathas will vote for the Mahayuti, which will help us get 170 of the 288 assembly seats,” he told reporters.
Athawale said the Maratha quota factor, which affected the ruling alliance in the Lok Sabha polls, will not be a factor this time as the Shinde government has given 10 per cent reservation to the community.
“I thank (Maratha quota activist) Manoj Jarange for not contesting the polls. However, his impact would not have been much. The Centre has also given10 per cent to the economically weaker sections. Jarange’s demand to include the entire Maratha community in the OBC segment is not correct,” the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment said.
Athawale claimed the entry of Maharashtra Navnriman Sena in the poll fay will help the Mahayuti as the Raj Thackeray-led party will eat into votes of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT).
“Moreover, there are several fronts this time, like the Parivartan Mahashakti of Bacchu Kadu and Sambhaji Chhatrapati, Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA, Samajwadi Party,” he said.
Though the RPI (A) has been neglected, the BJP must not forget it after the polls, Athawale said.
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