PUNE, Dec 29: The newly elected Republican Party of India (RPI) president and Lok Sabha member Ramdas Athawale on Sunday categorically stated that the Congress had no other alternative but to strike an alliance with the RPI in order to oust the Shiv Sena-BJP combine at the next assembly elections in the State.Athawale was speaking with media persons during the concluding day of the national convention of the party at the sprawling Race Course grounds. Athawale who was unanimously elected as president at the party's central executive council meeting emphasised that Congress president Sonia Gandhi should not be opposed to an alliance with the RPI at least in Maharashtra where the latter had a sizable following among Dalits.The Congress party at its brainstorming session at Panchmarhi had resolved not to strike any kind of alliance with any party and to contest the elections on its own and had recently won assembly elections in three states without an alliance. However, Athawale who claims to have a sizable hold among Dalit voters in Maharashtra wondered about the outcome of the next assembly elections if the Congress and RPI do not come together.In the Lok Sabha elections held in February this year the Congress had got spectacular success in Maharashtra thanks to its alliance with the RPI and Samajwadi Party.It was the first major blow to the ruling alliance after its success in the 1995 assembly elections. Stressing that if the Congress wants to wrest power in the next Assembly elections, Athawale said that it has no other option but to have an alliance with the RPI.He claimed that the Congress-RPI alliance would fetch more than 200 seats in Maharashtra where the Assembly has a membership of 288. Athawale also expected a share of 40-50 seats for the RPI. The split in the secular votes has led to the rise of communal and casteist forces, Athawale said adding that in the event of Congress not tying up with the RPI, the latter would appeal to like-minded secular parties like the Janata Party, Samajwadi Party and Leftist parties in the state to come together.Referring to the split in the RPI, Athawale said that he would hold talks with RPI leader Prakash Ambedkar towards a reunification process, further pointing out that even the workers in the Ambedkar faction favoured an alliance with the Congress. Following the completion of the process of the organisational elections in all the states as per the party constitution, the party's ten-member presidium has now been summarily dissolved, Athawale said adding that he would go to Delhi on December 29. He expressed confidence that the EC would give due recognition to the party and accept the report on the election of the office-bearers.
