Union minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and chief of Republican Party of India (A), Ramdas Bandu Athawale on Wednesday night said that he has demanded a ministerial berth for his party in the next cabinet expansion in Maharashtra. According to PTI, he made the statement while addressing RPI (A) and office-bearers at Vasai, on the outskirts of Mumbai. As per the report, the 63-year-old Dalit leader said he has already put forth his demand at the appropriate forum for the ministerial berth.
He said that his party will also demand tickets to contest at least two Lok Sabha seats, out of the total 48 in Maharashtra, and 10 to 15 Assembly segments in the 2024 elections from the NDA quota.
"RPI (A) should get a ministerial berth in the next Cabinet expansion in Maharashtra. I had discussed the same with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. I will meet him again. I feel we should also get an opportunity to share power," the Union Minister of State for Social Justice told reporters.
The minister claimed that RPI (A) would contest the upcoming elections to municipal corporations and Zilla Parishads in Maharashtra in alliance with BJP and Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
In April, Athawale claimed that he is willing to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra. According to an India Today report, during a press conference he said that everyone wants to be a chief minister these days but it is only possible if one has that majority. “Since there is so much discussion, even I want to convey that I am also aspiring to become a chief minister", he was quoted by the news outlet.
The state has not had a Dalit chief minister since Sushil Kumar Shinde, he also added.
However, he then said that the state is currently stable under the rule of chief minister Eknath Shinde and that it is working well.
“If there is any such thought, I am definitely willing to be the chief minister. But, currently, our government is stable and Eknath Shinde is working well. He works 16 to 18 hours a day. He is an efficient chief minister,” Athawale was quoted as saying.