Mumbai: Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Ramdas Athavale on Wednesday said that he was ready to quit the National Democractic Alliance (NDA) if RPI leader Prakash Ambedkar agreed to lead a united front of all RPI factions. With this, Mr Ahtavale has now successfully shifted the onus to Mr Ambedkar, who may never agree to work with Mr Athavale. The Congress has been carrying a campaign on social media against Mr Athavale to compel him to quit the NDA because of the alleged growing attacks on dalits.
Recently, Mr Ahtavale was greeted with a black flag during his press conference in Gujarat. However, Mr Athavale claimed that the man was a Congress activist and was planted by the party to defame him. The RPI leader also felt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should talk with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and he would be willing to initiate the meeting.
Looking at the upcoming elections, talks about an alliance between all RPI leaders are doing the rounds. RPI leaders are not united so dalit votes get distributed to other parties as well. Speaking about the unity of RPI leaders, Mr Athavale told, “If all leaders are coming together, I am also ready and will quit the alliance with BJP. I have no interest in a ministerial post as interest of dalits is more important.”
Meanwhile, when The Asian Age contacted Mr Ambedkar, who is in Karnataka campaigning in the elections, for his reaction to Mr Athavale’s proposal, he refused to comment. According to sources, he is not interested in working with the latter.
