Union minister and RPI leader Ramdas Athawale wants to work with the BJP to defeat the BSP in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Union minister and RPI leader Ramdas Athawale wants to work with the BJP to defeat the BSP in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. On Tuesday, he trained his guns on Mayawati, declaring that he would try to “snatch the elephant” from the BSP, referring to its election symbol, with the support of the BJP.
“Elephant was the symbol of Republican Party of India. However, with the division in RPI and the rise of BSP, it was later given to Mayawati’s party. Now we will try to bring it back. We will snatch the elephant,” he said.
Mr Athawale said a representative of RPI thought has become a part of the Union Council of Ministers after Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who was a minister in the first Cabinet headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.
He claimed the BSP’s core vote bank of dalits is shrinking in Uttar Pradesh, which was clear in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls’ outcome, and the RPI aims to take advantage of the situation. “In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP and its allies got 73 seats in UP while the BSP got none. This means the dalit vote base has shifted to the BJP. If the BJP, Apna Dal and the RPI come together, it will have a significant effect on the BSP’s vote bank,” he claimed.
Mr Athawale said his party intends to contest 20-25 seats in UP and is in touch with BSP dissidents and senior leaders some of whom had recently quit the party. While batting for reservation to Patidars, Jats, Marathas and those demanding the quota benefit, he said: “As long as it does not hurt the existing reservation system, they should extend this facility.”
The RPI leader said he will try to bring the Shiv Sena and the BJP together to contest the crucial civic body polls in Mumbai.
