They may be on the opposite ends of the political spectrum, but union minister of state for social justice Ramdas Athawale has reached out to Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar for a grand alliance of factions of the Dalit-dominated Republican Party of India. Athawale, who heads the RPI-A, was speaking to reporters on Ambedkar Jayanti on Sunday. The RPI-A is also contesting 76 Lok Sabha seats in 13 states across India, including Assam and Jharkhand (3 each), Uttar Pradesh (15), Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (seven each), Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka (five each). Prakash Ambedkar, who is contesting for the Lok Sabha from Solapur and Akola, is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and a former Lok Sabha MP. While Prakash Ambedkar has allied with the All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen led by the Owaisi brothers, Athavale who has been with the Congress-NCP in the past, is now in the BJP's camp. Athawale said he was willing to take a secondary leadership when it came to leadership to ensure that the various factions of the RPI were united. "If all RPI groups come together and if Prakash Ambedkar is to led it, I am willing to support the cause," he added, stating that this united RPI could form a consensus on alliances to be struck. "If Prakash Ambedkar and myself join hands, the RPI's strength will increase and the political importance of our community will also rise. I am willing to quit my ministerial position but instead of making me resign as a minister, the focus must be on increasing these ministerial berths through Republican unity," Athawale said while being effusive in his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Unlike most leaders of the Republican Party of India (RPI) factions who have a base in the Buddhist scheduled castes (erstwhile Mahars), who form around 8 per cent of the around 14 per cent Dalit population, Ambedkar has tried to reach out to a larger 'Bahujan' constituency including OBC groups through his 'Akola pattern' of political and social engineering.

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