http://www.hindustantimes.com/Bhimshakti-Shivshakti-need-of-the-hour-Athawale/Article1-704912.aspx
Bhimshakti-Shivshakti need of the hour: Athawale
Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times
Nagpur, June 02, 2011
The former Lok Sabha member and the Republican Party of India leader
Ramdas Athawale on Thursday asserted that nobody could prevent him to
forge an alliance among the Shiv Sena, BJP and RPI against the
Congress-NCP combination in Maharashtra in the ensuing elections.
Addressing a massive joint worke
rs' meeting of Sena-BJP and RPI on Thursday evening he said that the
present Congress-NCP alliance would be thrown out by the new
combination in coming elections.
He also lashed out at the deputy chief minister and NCP leader, Ajit
Pawar for criticising Balasaheb Thackeray and ridiculed the NCP and
its leaders being panicked into the move as they have realised that it
would seriously damage them in state politics.
Athawale said that for two decades the RPI was stuck with the Congress
ideology. But apparently the Congress played the Dalit vote bank
politics as a means to win power and position. "The Congress would
rely on Dalit vote in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections but would
forget us in local bodies' elections. This stunted the RPI growth at
the grassroots and also caused disarray in Dalit leadership," he
pointed out.
"I am not saying the NCP and Sharad Pawar did nothing for me. I was
made a minister and four of my party men were made ministers. Later I
was given chance to contest and win Pandharpur Lok Sabha seat. But
things changed after that. One thing led to another and I had to part
ways with the NCP in 2009," he added.
The RPI leader dismissed the alleged vicious campaign that the
Ambedkarites joined hands with the communal forces. That is a wrong
perception. "I will never deviate from the patch of Ambedkar-Fule
ideology. On February 25 I just happened to pay a courtesy visit to
Balasaheb Thackeray to greet him on his birthday. In a casual
conversation, Balasaheb remarked that Shiv Shakti (represented by
Sena) could work wonders along with Bhim shakti ( Babasaheb Ambedkar
ideology). The idea appealed to my party colleagues too. The BJP was
also roped in. Later I met BJP president Nitin Gadkari and Gopinath
Munde to discuss the prospects and remove any misgivings," he said.
This new combination is being tested to find new social, economical
possibilities to uplift the Dalits who have remained in the penumbra
of powerless existence ditched by vote bank politics of the Congress
and the NCP. History shows that Babasaheb Ambedkar was defeated by the
Congress in 1952 and 1954 (from Bhandara Lok Sabha seat). The Dalit
icon had called the Congress a `house on fire' and asked people to
abandon it and form an anti-Congress political force. I am on the same
path. There is nothing unholy in it. We want to see the Congress and
the NCP out of power, to pay its price for ignoring the Dalits on
whose votes they rule the state and the country. In past Dalit leader
Khobragade too had chosen Jan Sangh as an ally.
He urged his workers to join the proposed massive morcha against
corruption in Mumbai on June 9. "The Mumbai morcha would show our
strength and it would be a befitting reply to those who are
undermining us," he quipped.
The Rajya Sabha member and Sena leader Sanjay Raut, the senior BJP
leaders, Chainsukh Sancheti and Nana Padole also spoke on the occasion
and justified the alliance.
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