After Raj, Athawale calls Ambedkar to join hands

Mumbai: While Raj Thackeray indicated at probability of an alliance with Uddhav Thackeray, union minister Ramdas Athawale too has made an appeal to Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar to come together for unification of the Dalit movement in Maharashtra.

“The Republican Party, of which I’m the president today, was founded by Babasaheb Ambedkar. The party is spreading very well across the country. But, the community expects us to come together. They feel our coming together shall unite and strengthen the Dalit movement. I am ready for that. Balasaheb (Prakash Ambedkar) should run the party founded by Babsaheb,” Athawale, who was interacting with media at Latur, said when asked about the unification of the Dalit movement in Maharashtra.

He appealed Ambedkar to close down the VBA and join the Republican Party.

“I’m also ready to vacate my ministership. Let him be the minister if he wishes so. I shall run the party,” Athawale said.

The union minister, however, criticized Raj Thackeray over his party’s stand on the state government’s decision to start teaching Hindi from class 1 in schools.

“We too are proud of Marathi. But, that doesn’t mean we would oppose any decision of the government to teach any other language. The government should not tolerate such bullying behaviour of the MNS,” Athawale said and added that the CM and the DCM should stop visiting Thackeray’s home.

“The CM should note that the MNS has been bullying the people coming to Maharashtra from other states. After a certain limit the people start replying to bullying with counter bullying,” Athawale said and added that the CM should note that the Mahayuti shall never benefit by cosying up with Raj Thackeray.

While squarely stating that Raj Thackeray has no role in Mahayuti, Athawale said, “During Lok Sabha elections he was with Mahayuti. What was the result? Mahayuti couldn’t show the requisite performance. But, during Vidhan Sabha election when the MNS was not part of the Mahayuti, the alliance got 237 seats,” Athawale said while pointing out that Raj Thackeray’s presence harms electoral prospects of the Mahayuti.

While explaining his point further, the union minister also said that the bullying of the MNS might adversely affect the Mumbai’s status as financial capital of India. “We too are proud of Marathi. We also feel that everybody should learn Marathi. But, that doesn’t mean bullying should be allowed in the name of language. One also needs to understand that bullying might also hamper the economic might of the city,” he said.

The union minister also termed Raj Thackeray as an ‘event management leader’. “He only manages to organize good events. He can’t fetch votes. Hence he shouldn’t harm the larger good of Maharashtra,” Athawale said.

In reply to other questions, the union minister also praised the film on Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and said that it is not against any caste but, depicts the life story of the social reformer.

“Phule cinema is not against any caste or religion. It is a film that narrates the history. No one should misunderstand the film by watching the trailer. Everyone will be satisfied if they watch the film in full. Phule cinema is an attempt to bring forth the plight of the Dalit community and give justice to the oppressed class. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had said that those who forget history cannot create history. Therefore, the audience will get to see the history of Mahatma Phule’s revolution through this film,” Athawale said.