Shiv Sena President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday welcomed several prominent Banjara community leaders who joined the party, along with a large number of their supporters. One of the prominent names was Ravikant Rathod. a senior leader of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA)
The new entrants enjoy a considerable clout in the Banjara community - a denotified nomadic tribe spread in different parts of Maharashtra, say Sena officials. Rathod, hailing from Beed district was the second-in-command to the VBA founder Dr. Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the Chief Architect of the Indian Constitution. Upon joining the Sena, the Banjara leaders said that the problems of their community were not resolved by the VBA and hence they decided to join the Thackeray-led mainstream party which could address their issues effectively.