Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale has sought home minister R.R. Patil’s help to resolve the dispute relating to the People’s Education Society (PES). Mr Athawale has warned the government that if the issue was not resolved by June 28, then RPI activists would be compelled to gather at the PES premises, where Siddharth College is located.
A few days ago, supporters of another Republican leader Anandraj Ambedkar forcibly occupied the premises of the PES at Fort and has not vacated it since then. Mr Athawale became the chairman of the PES after the demise of former minister of state Pritam Shegaonkar. PES was set up by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.
After meeting the home minister, Mr Athawale said that the Ambedkar family was left with no right over the PES, since Dr Ambedkar had made it very clear that all appointments to the PES will be carried out by democratic process and that his family members would exercise no right over the society.
“Krishna Patil, principal of Siddharth College has been removed and vice-chairman was manhandled by them. The admission process of the junior college is being stalled since then. I made a demand before the home minister that he resolve the matter by June 28. If that is not done, we will decide the further course of action,” the RPI chief warned. Mr Athawale also clarified that his party would not support the ‘Hindutva’ agenda of Shiv Sena. “From the beginning we were very aware of Shiv Sena’s agenda, but the decision of joining Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was to defeat the ruling Congress-NCP combine of the state,” he asserted.
The RPI leader advised Shiv Sena saying that agenda of ‘Hindutva’ is not enough to win elections. “We need to raise issues pertaining to the common people,” he said.