Mumbai : Republican Party of India (RPI-A) chief Ramdas Atha-vale reiterated his demand for a ministry in the BJP government at the centre while demanding 10 per cent reservation for his partymen in all important committees in the state on Saturday.
Athavale was speaking at a press conference held here when he made the demands. He has also announced a state-wide session of RPI volunteers in Mumbai on March 15 which is expected to see four to five lakh supporters flocking in from all parts of the state.
Athavale addressed a meeting of party office-bearers and volunteers on Saturday where a 10-point programme was finalised. Topping the agenda was the long-pending demand for the proposed memorial at Indu Mill’s compound dedicated to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. The party, which does not have any MLA in the state assembly, has set a deadline of April 14 for the memorial and has also demanded that the State govt bear all the cost for the same. Besides, Athavale was very vocal about his ministerial ambitions and made it clear that he will not come back to state politics.
“Why should I come back to state politics? Is this their (BJP’s) attempt to give my Rajya Sabha seat to someone else? They had promised me a union ministry… CM Fadnavis had given me a written assurance. They should stay true to their word,” Athavale told the media here. He said that Fadnavis wished to have an experienced person like Athavale in his cabinet but has asked him not to resign from the Rajya Sabha yet.
He also claimed that if RPI (A) hadn’t supported the BJP in the assembly elections, Shiv Sena would have emer-ged as the single largest party in the state. “All dalit votes went to the BJP because of us. Otherwise Sena would have won at least got 80-85 seats,” he said.
Other demands included reservation for Muslims in line with that of Marathas as well as for the economically weak among higher castes.
