The Republican Party of India (RPI) (Athavale) might be an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party but takes independent decisions on issues relating to Dalit concerns. Last week, party chief and Rajya Sabha MP Ramdas Athavale said the RPI would hold a national samata sammelan or conference on equality in honour of B R Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary on April 14, 2016. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has also held harmony conferences to honour Ambedkar. But Athavale said Ambedkar always stressed on samata or equality and that the RSS could call its event whatever it wanted to.
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