Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena announces alliance with Jogendra Kawade's faction of RPI
04 Jan 2023 18:48:38
Mumbai, January 04: Ahead of the civic and local bodies polls in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an alliance of his party Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena with the Peoples Republican Party of India (RPI) in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Kawade is one of the activists in Maharashtra's Ambedkarite movement. He was a Member of Parliament from Chimur Loksabha constituency during 1998-99 and a Member of the Legislative Council from 2014 to 2020.
Shinde's faction sprang into action to join hands with Jogendra Kawade after Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr Ambedkar and President of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) showed signs of forming an alliance with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction ahead of upcoming civic polls in Maharashtra.
During the conference, Jogendra Kawade alleged that Aaditya Thackeray ordered to bulldoze Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s cultural centre in Nagpur during his tenure as the tourism minister in the previous MVA government. “We demanded an inquiry and held a huge protest against this action. We also sought a meeting with him, but he did not pay any heed to our demands,” Kawade said.
Kawade added that Eknath shinde was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His leadership has developed through lot of hardships and sacrifices, he said.
"Similarly, a Bhim Sainik like me had to struggle to become a leader. Hence, we have joined hands with him to give justice to downtrodden and underprivileged people of this state," Kawade said.
Several factions of Republican parties propagating ideology of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar play key role in attracting Dalit vote bank in the state. However, every faction has alliances with major parties such as the BJP, Congress and NCP resulting into vote division.
Therefore, the newly formed Shinde faction is also leaving no stone unturned to expand their organisation state-wide by forming strategic alliances for upcoming polls.
Meanwhile, Prakash Ambedkar clarified that they are positive for alliance with Uddhav Thacekray-led Shiv Sena. However, they need clarity on whether Congress and NCP will be ready to accept them as one of their allies in their grand MVA alliance.