The Republican Party of India (Athawale) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in India. The party is a splinter group of the

Republican Party of India The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) was a political party in India. It had its roots in the All-India Scheduled Castes Federation led by N. Sivaraj and B. R. Ambedkar. The Party was e ...

and has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. The president of the party is Ramdas Athavale.

History

Ramdas Athawale was a member of the

Maharashtra Legislative Council The Maharashtra Legislative Council or Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. Maharashtra Legislature Leaders Party Group Leader & Chief Whip and Whip Location Th ...

from 1990 to 1995 and a cabinet member in the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the executive branch of the Indian states of india, state of Maharashtra. The government is led by the List of chief ministers of Maharashtra, chief minister (currently Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024) ...

. Subsequently, he was elected to the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

, representing Mumbai North Central in the

12th Lok Sabha The 12th Lok Sabha (23 March 1998 – 26 April 1999), was constituted after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that did not provide the ...

between 1998 and 1999 and the Pandharpur constituency from 1999 to 2004. After the 2004 election, it had a small representation in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

and was a constituent of the ruling

United Progressive Alliance The United Progressive Alliance (UPA; Hindi: Saṁyukta Pragatiśīl Gaṭhabandhan) was a Political group, political alliance in India led by the Indian National Congress. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election, 2004 general ele ...

(UPA). Its presence is limited to

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. All factions of the RPI except for Prakash Ambedkar's Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, have united to form the Republican Party of India (United). In 2011, the party aligned itself with the

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

(NDA), led by the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP). In June 2014,

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actress Rakhi Sawant joined the party, and was made the chief of the party's state women's wing. In September 2015, the RPI(A) was among 16 political parties in Maharashtra whose registrations were revoked for failing to submit audited balance sheets and income tax returns since 2005. As a result, the party lost its official election symbol. Athawale is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha. He has been serving as the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment since 2016.

References

Republican Party of India Political parties in Maharashtra Ambedkarite political parties Secularist organizations Socialist parties in India Political parties established in 1999 1999 establishments in Maharashtra {{India-party-stub

History

See also

References