RPI factions strive for victory in Maharashtra polls

One group supports BJP while the other is with Shiv Sena; other factions support NCP, Congress and the Left parties

The Republican Party of India (RPI), a dream party of Dr B R Ambedkar in Maharashtra, has now diminished into different factions and groups. On Monday, RPI (Athavale) was split when senior leader Arjun Dangle deserted party chief Ramdas Athavale to support the Shiv Sena. Dangle has decided not to toe Athavale's line to support the BJP, but work with the Shiv Sena during the Assembly polls, slated for October 15.

Meanwhile, Kakasaheb Kambhalkar, another leader, has decided to support the Nationalist Congress Party in the upcoming election. The Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti model, successfully implemented by late Bal Thackeray and Athavale during the election to the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation in February 2012, and in the last Lok Sabha polls as well, might not work wonders in the Assembly election owing to fragmentation of dalit votes. In Maharashtra, dalits constitute 10.5 per cent of the population.

“Division among the Ambedkarites and RPI are quite harmful for social transformation and social change. RPI is not a mere political party, but a social and cultural movement. The Shiv Shakti and Bhim Shakti should work together, not just during polls. It is necessary in urban and rural areas to minimise the gap between the dalit and savarna (upper class),” Dangle told Business Standard.

Interestingly, an RPI faction led by Jogendra Kawade is associated with the Congress, while Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar is part of an alliance of the Left wing and like-minded parties.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Ratnakar Mahajan admitted that RPI's fragmentation is worrisome because it displaces the general discourse about problems of dalits and similar classes in terms of education, health and livelihood. “However, the motivating factor for divisions in RPI is individual achievements and competing ambitions of their leaders,” he added. According to Mahajan, national and regional parties will have to address the real issues of the oppressed population, including dalits, instead of trying to appease them only at the time of election.