Athawale requests that Nitish give the Mumbai Oppn Meet a pass

In spite of his “good relations” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) party left the NDA on Saturday, according to Union Minister Ramadas Athawale.

The head of RPI also voiced the opinion that the JD(U) leader, who has been leading efforts to forge opposition unity in recent months, should forego the next gathering of INDIA’s non-BJP bloc in Mumbai.

Athawale said that his “advice” to Kumar to skip the meet was, “Koi faayda nahin hai (it will be of no use)”.

 

He doesn’t appear to be content in that group. He objected to the term INDIA, but Rahul Gandhi overcame him, according to Athawale, who was alluding to media rumors that surfaced after the new name was revealed during the meeting in Bengaluru earlier this month.

 

Such rumors have been shot down by Kumar, who also claimed that the opposition coalition’s new name was chosen by a unanimous vote.

 

Athawale was asked whether he would support Kumar’s return to the BJP-led NDA, which he had left last year, and he responded with happy memories of his own “good relations” with Kumar “since the days both of us served in the cabinet headed by late Atal Bihari Vajpayee”.

 

The RPI leader said, “It is for Nitish Kumar and the BJP to take a call”, perhaps aware of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s repeated declaration that going forward there would be no truck with the JD(U) leader.

 

The visiting Union minister said that he had visited a few areas of the state and had been impressed by the wonderful job that Kumar has accomplished while serving as chief minister.

 

But now he has joined forces with his previous foe RJD. I wonder why he joined us (NDA) six years ago if he had to do that,” said Athawale.

 

The JD(U) leader also refuted the claim that the Narendra Modi administration has been oblivious to Bihar’s issues, saying, “We have so many ministers at the Centre from the state. The state’s citizens are also thought of as our own. We release every rupee designated for the government.

 

The Dalit politician from Maharashtra was also questioned on the accusation that the BJP had allied itself with individuals it had previously accused of corruption by appointing a group of the NCP to the western state’s cabinet.

 

It is not those who have come with us who are corrupt, Athawale said with his characteristic candor. They are the ones on the other side of the fence.

 

The strength of the NDA in Maharashtra would increase in direct proportion to the severity of the assaults from Uddhav Thackeray and his allies, he further said.

 

With a smile, he said, “I would want to see changes in Bihar similar to those in Maharashtra. I urge everyone in this room to follow suit.

 

Athawale, the junior minister for social justice and empowerment, reaffirmed his support for the need for a caste census and noted that this has been the Republican Party of India (RPI)’s (his party’s) official position.

 

The Modi administration is not specifically opposed to caste censuses, he said in response to a question. Even past administrations have been unable to conduct a headcount of OBCs and the general category due to a few technological difficulties. Hopefully, a solution will be discovered.

 

“Let them bring their findings to Parliament and sincerely take part in a debate, which the government has been all too ready for,” he remarked in reference to the visit of an opposition team to Manipur. However, they have been avoiding it on several grounds.

 

“In Manipur, where rebels are allegedly slipping in from neighboring Myanmar to take advantage of the instability, the government is putting up every effort. In the House, the Home Minister was prepared to make a statement. The Union minister lamented that the opposition was insistent that it would only listen to the Prime Minister.