Mumbai: It seems the decision taken by the RPI (A) chief and MP Ramdas Athwale to go with the BJP for the sake of power has not gone down well with the Dalit communities across Maharashtra. Arjun Dangale, a close aide of Ramdas Athawale declared that he will align with the Shiv Sena by forming a different group, in an effort to unite 'Shiv Shakti' and 'Bhim Shakti'.
He alleged that Athawale was forced by the BJP to take this decision for mere seven seats in the assembly elections. However, Athawale claims that his decision is aimed at promoting the RPI at the national level and to help the Dalits sharing the power with the BJP.
Gangadhar Pantavane, renowned Dalit thinker and an architect of 'Asmitadarsh' Dalit literacy magazine who was the 'political guru' of Ramdas Athavale for a long time said that Athawale was carried away by the promises made by the forces which were not acceptable to Ambedkari forces.
In fact, Athawale gained the full confidence of Sena supremo, Balasaheb Thackeray who wanted the union of Bhim Sena and Shiv Sena after the defeat of Athawale from Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency in 2009 parliamentary elections.
However, after the death of Balasaheb, Ramdas was not given the same respect by Uddhav and even kept out of many meetings. It prompted Athawale to join the BJP with the assurance of a Cabinet berth at the Centre and 10 per cent power sharing in the state.
However, Dr. Pantavane expressed his concerns over the fact that the BJP may renege from the assurance they have given to Athawale. He further added that the situation is a mirage and in case the BJP backs out, he (Athawale) will face political isolation.
Dr. Rushikesh Kamble, renowned Dalit critic said that most of the Dalits disapproved the move made by Ramdas Athawale as there was an expectation that the electoral pact would be with the Shiv Sena as it was promised to Balasaheb Thackeray that the union of Bhimshakti-Shivshakti would happen.
On the other hand, the Dalits are also disillusioned with Congress for exploiting them as a vote bank. Keeping these things in mind, Kamble opined that this situation will turn out to be beneficial for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) if there are no other alternatives. A further fragmentation of Dalit votes seems inevitable with the RPI leaders like Arjun Dangale and Kakasaheb Khambalkar planning to collaborate with Shiv Sena and NCP respectively.
It is important to note that Dalit voters were attracted towards the BSP in 2009 Lok Sabha elections as the BSP was polled more than one lakh votes in Gadchiroli, Nagpur, Hingoli, Chimur and Nanded Loksabha constituencies. Dalit vote bank is big in Maharashtra, whose number is only next to the Maratha, the ruling upper caste in the State. The role of Dalit votes is decisive as it is 22 per cent in 33 Assembly constituencies in Vidarbha and 10 per cent in 11 constituencies in the Marathwada region.
Especially, there can be a big impact of Dalit votes in Akola, Latur, Nanded, Washim, Buldana, Nagpur, Amaravati, Osmanabad, Chandrapur, Hingoli, Solapur, Aurangabad, Wardha, Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Gondia, Ahmednagar, Pune and Mumbai.
However, the RPI (Athawale) group received merely 0.85 per cent votes in 2009 assembly elections and 0.6 per cent in the recent parliamentary elections. Although, both the BJP and the Shiv Sena having a sound knowledge of the fact that the RPI is losing its ground, are engaged in dragging Athawale only with the intention of influencing the voters.
Ramdas Athawale is credited with changing the stereotype of Dalit vote bank patterns. It may be recalled that Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar carved out the Republican Party of India (RPI) through his organization of Scheduled Castes Federation.
But after his death on October 30, 1957, the party faced constant bickering over the leadership leading to the party splitting into at least different 50 groups. Late Namdeo Dhasal, Gangdhar Gade, Jogendra Kawade, RS Gawai, Prakash Ambedkar and Ramdas Athawale received their share in the power politics, but could not get more than one seat in the state Assembly.
It is also interesting to note that another leader of the RPI (Panther group) Gangadhar Gade recently made ties with Akbaruddin Owaisi of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for the state assembly elections.
(Sanjeev Unhale is former executive editor of a leading Marathi daily Lokmat, Aurangabad. He is writing for ibnlive on Maharashtra assembly election)
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