Three-time MoS, poet who provides comic relief, and NDA’s Dalit face, Union Minister and RPI President— who is Ramdas Athawale?

MUMBAI, 9 JUNE, 2024 (GPN): In June 2019, as Rajya Sabha member Ramdas Athawale returned to Mumbai after taking oath as a minister in the then Modi government, he was received by a throng of supporters at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Dressed in a bright blue kurta with a cherry red jacket, Athawale sat in a makeshift chariot under a large decorative umbrella. Amid a 15-km-long traditional Marathi dhol-tasha procession, Athawale and his supporters made their way to Chaityabhoomi in Dadar, where Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s ashes are interred.

The Republican Party of India (RPI) did not contest a single seat this election, has no directly-elected public representative, but still enjoys a certain clout within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). That he made a hat-trick Sunday as a minister of state without a single MP is testament to this.

For a bystander, the question arises: Just how is a leader without much electoral clout able to pull such weight in a powerful coalition?
In any discussion on RPI chief Athawale in political circles, there is rarely any mention of his opinion on critical issues.

Instead, the 64-year-old (Born-25 December, 1959) Dalit leader is most popular for providing comic relief during serious parliamentary discussions and election campaign rallies with his poems, where he mixes Hindi and Marathi to fashion awkward rhymes.

For instance, at the Mahayuti’s final election rally in Maharashtra, in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, Athawale took stage and spun a verse making the words ‘nakhre’ (tantrums) and Thackeray rhyme. He said, “Uddhavji Thackeray tumche chalnar nahit Maharashtrat nakhre, karan amcha sobat aale ahet Raj Thackeray.” (Uddhav Thackeray, your tantrums will not work in Maharashtra anymore because now Raj Thackeray has come with us.)

Updated on September 2024 –

The Republican Party of India (RPI-Athawale) should get to contest at least 10 to 12 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election, Ramdas Athawale said on Sunday. RPI(A) is an ally in the ruling Mahayuti alliance that comprises the Bharatiya Janta Party, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party.

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, the Minister said, “The RPI (A) has made a list of 18 probable seats, which it will be sharing with the Mahayuti partners in a few days and expects to get at least 10 to 12 seats in the seat-sharing pact. We will contest the election on our party symbol and ask for three to four seats in Vidarbha, including north Nagpur, Umred (Nagpur), Umarkhed in Yavatmal and Washim. The BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP should give four seats each from their quota for our party.”

The Minister claimed that RPI (A) party was earlier promised Cabinet positions, chairmanship of two corporations, and roles in district-level committees, but due to the inclusion of Ajit Pawar faction of NCP, his party did not get ministerial berth in the State.