India News | No Need to Induct Raj Thackeray-led MNS into NDA Fold: Athawale
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Union minister and RPI (A) president Ramdas Athawale on Monday said the Raj Thackeray-led MNS should not be inducted into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold.
Latur, Feb 26 (PTI) Union minister and RPI (A) president Ramdas Athawale on Monday said the Raj Thackeray-led MNS should not be inducted into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold.
Speaking to reporters in Latur, the Dalit leader said Raj Thackeray's party can benefit more if it fights elections alone instead of joining hands with the BJP-led alliance.
A buzz is on about MNS' potential tie-up with Mahayuti- Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP-for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar recently met the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president at his residence in Mumbai.
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"There is no need to induct MNS in the NDA fold. I am with NDA and the MNS should not be taken on board," said the Minister of State for Social Justice.
He said the RPI (A) headed by him will stake a claim on Solapur and Shirdi constituencies for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and also on at least 8 to 10 seats for the assembly elections.
"Leaders of Mahayuti should take the RPI into confidence while finalising seats for LS polls," he added.
Athawale said he joined politics because of veteran politician Sharad Pawar.
"It was Pawar who inducted me into the cabinet. Earlier, I was with him but I later joined an alliance. Pawar should have taken a decision to join hands with the BJP," Athawale said.
He said Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray received jolts as they lost the symbols of their respective parties to Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
Athawale advised Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange to be careful about his language and appealed to him to call off protests as the state legislature has granted a 10 per cent quota to Marathas.
He claimed the Dalit community is being misled by some people who are accusing the BJP of trying to alter the Constitution.
"Nobody can change the Constitution. On the contrary, the BJP is taking along all castes. It is wrong to accuse the BJP of playing the Hindutva politics," he added.
He rejected the Opposition's claim about the misuse of the Enforcement Directorate.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)