Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Union Minister & RPI Chief Ramdas Athawale to Contest From Mumbai South Central Constituency

Mumbai, July 31:  The Republican Party of India (RPI) on Tuesday announced that party chief and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections in 2019. According to a tweet by ANI,  Athawale will contest from Mumbai South Central constituency. The sitting MP from this constituency is Shiv Sena's Rahul Shewale.

Earlier this month, Athawale had said that his party RPI (A) would field candidates of other communities at half of the total seats it would contest in the upcoming general elections. RPI (A) is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA governments at Centre and Maharashtra.

While addressing a press conference, the Dalit leader said that the move was aimed at expanding the base of the party, which currently has no MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly. In his address, he had informed that the 61st Foundation Day of his party would be held in Thane on October 3.

In May, Athawale had said it was in the best interest of the BJP and Shiv Sena to continue their alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls elections.  According to a report by The Indian Express,  Athawale said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conveyed to him that he should speak to (Shiv Sena president) Uddhav Thackeray and resolve the issues the Sena is having with the BJP.

The Dalit leader had said that RPI (A) needs to strengthen its base in every village and the party won’t gain popularity unless it gives representation to non-Dalits. "The RPI will have to work towards political engineering to attract more votes,” he had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 31, 2018 06:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).