Union minister Ramdas Athawale, who also heads the Republican Party of India (A), said he has demanded a ministerial berth for his party in the next cabinet expansion in Maharashtra.He was addressing RPI (A) workers and office-bearers at Vasai, on the outskirts of Mumbai, on Wednesday night. The 63-year-old Dalit leader said he has already put forth his demand at the appropriate forum for the ministerial berth.
Athawale said he would try to ensure that RPI (A) gets tickets to contest at least two to three Lok Sabha seats and in 10 to 15 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra next year. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats and 288 Assembly constituencies.He said RPI (A) will contest all the forthcoming elections to the civic bodies and zilla parishads along with the BJP, and the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The expansion of the council of ministers is eagerly awaited among members of the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena.On August 9 last year, 18 ministers were inducted in the Shinde-Fadnavis government after it came to power in June, while as per rules the council of ministers in the state can have a maximum of 43 members.Earlier , Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Shambhuraj Desai had said the much-awaited expansion of cabinet will take place before the state legislature's monsoon session or even before that.The RPI (A) wields influence in some pockets dominated by Dalit voters in Maharashtra. Responding to a query, the Dalit leader said he would like to contest from the Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 polls.Ramdas Athawale, a Rajya Sabha member, termed the Odisha train crash as a very unfortunate incident which should not be politicised by the Opposition.When asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statements in the US, Ramdas Athawale said it is not proper to continuously criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside India without any reason.Ramdas Athawale also informed about RPI-A is working towards reviving the Dalit Panther Party.