,
Nitin Gadkari and
Devendra Fadnavis paying tribute to
B. R. Ambedkar. In 2015, following attacks on Dalits in the state of
Haryana, Athawale said that if the police were to continue turning a blind eye to their plight then special protection squads led by senior police officers should be formed from among members of the community and they should be granted
firearms licenses so that they could protect themselves. In December 2017, he suggested that Dalits should renounce Hinduism in favour of Buddhism in order to stop being subject to "atrocities". He also criticised the record of the Hindu-centric BJP and
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in dealing with issues relating to discrimination of not only Dalits but also other disadvantaged communities in India. In March 2018, echoing remarks he had made soon after becoming Minister of State in 2016 and reacting in particular to recent atrocities against Dalits in
Saharanpur,
Unnao and
Allahabad, Athawale advocated
inter-caste marriage as the best way to minimise such events and noted that he had married a
Brahmin "to set an example". As he had done in December 2017, he attacked
Mayawati, a Dalit former
Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh, on this occasion for what he perceived as a lack of action to help Dalits during her four terms in office. He said that this had caused the community to shift their support to the BJP and RPI, while refuting charges that he was a puppet under BJP control. Although described as a Dalit leader, Athawale has caused controversy among Dalits. In January 2018, around 130 people were arrested when some Dalit activists protested against him during a speech. Aside from his involvement in Dalit affairs, Athawale has also advocated
reservation for economically disadvantaged
upper caste communities. He has said that the government of India should release the caste-based information collected during the
2011 Census of India, which is considered to be a politically sensitive dataset, in order to address inequities in the reservation system across the board. He rejects claims that doing so would lead to an increase in casteism. Athawale has said that reservation quota of 25 percent for Dalits should be introduced to sports, including
cricket, following India's defeat in the
2017 ICC Champions Trophy Final against Pakistan, and that the armed forces should also be subject to a quota regime. He has also said that, just as the Lok Sabha has constituencies reserved for members of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, so too should the Rajya Sabha and the Union cabinet. In addition, he favours increasing the prevailing 50 per cent quota that exists for government jobs and places at educational institutions to 75 per cent, stressing that this would apply to all castes that are recognised as economically disadvantaged, which includes those categorised at
Other Backwards Classes. On April 28, 2025, following the
Pahalgam attack and the
2025 India-Pakistan border skirmishes and
diplomatic crisis, he stated that India should declare war against
Pakistan if the country refuses to surrender
Azad Jammu and Kashmir and
Gilgit-Baltistan. == Positions held ==