Nagpur, Sep 16 - Rumblings of discontent rattled the 18-party strong Third Front with Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Rajendra Gavai raising a banner of revolt against party colleague Ramdas Athawale for attempting to hijack the front's leadership.

The developments came barely a fortnight after the Third Front, christened the Republican Left Democratic Front (RLDF), was formed and just a day after it released an ambitious joint election manifesto.

'RLDF does not belong to any single leader, it is a coalition of 18 parties, all of which have an equal right in the decision making process. But Athawale has been taking decisions without even consulting us and certain things we learnt through media conferences,' Gavai said.

He was making a pointed reference to Athavale's move to offer five seats to Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) headed by former union minister Ram Vilas Paswan for the Oct 13 Assembly elections in Maharashtra.

The RLDF is in the process of working out seat-sharing deals and so far 260 seats have been unanimously decided by the 18-party leaders.

'Even as our talks are continuing for the remaining 28 seats, Athavale has gone ahead and offered five seats to LJP,' said Gavai, part of the RPI-United (RPI-U), a coalition of all factions of RPI that was formed last month.