Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi, started by Prakash Ambedkar - the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar - on March 20, 2018, may not have scored a single seat in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls. However, the party has had a profound effect on the caste politics of Maharashtra since its inception.
The lawyer-activist-politician Ambedkar, now 70, has consistently advocated for a 'third front' representing the deprived, Bahujan groups to gain 'true' representation and political power in Maharashtra, instead of being treated as a mere vote bank by Congress and BJP and their allies.
On its website, the party is decribed as one that follows the "Ambedkarite ideology."
"It is our resolve to uplift all the socially, economically and politically deprived groups of this country by taking forward the sociopolitical legacy of Buddha-Kabir-Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar," it states.
The formation of VBA was a result of this ideology. On January 1, 2018, the name "Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi" was first used in a convention held by the Dhangar community in Pandharpur, Maharashtra.
Presided over by Prakash Ambedkar, the gathering brought together around 100 small political parties and social organizations. Later, the decision to create a political party was firmed up in a meeting with Prakash Ambedkar, Laxman Mane, Haridas Bhade and Vijay More.
"There will be the inclusion of all progressive parties in this front (VBA), and this political front will be led by the eminent leader Prakash Ambedkar and existence of each progressive party shall be upheld," read Ambedkar's statement on party's formation. Finally on March 20, 2018, Ambedkar announced the official launch of the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi with the poll symbol of a "Gas Cylinder" given by the Election Commission of India that recognised it as a legitimate political party.
Moreover, an existing party, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, was dissolved and merged into VBA during its inception. The VBA’s vote base comprises backward class communities, Scheduled Tribes, Dalits, and Muslims. In its maiden general election in 2019, it got 6.99 per cent of the votes polled, even though it did not win any seats.
The party also had an alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) until 6 September 2019. Unfortunately, the alliance disintegrated due to differences arising from seat distribution during the 2019 State Elections in Maharashtra.
Since 2019, the party has emerged as an important force — its impact felt by the two big alliances in the state — the Maha Yuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Both the Congress and BJP-led combines have had sleepless nights in the past over VBA nibbling away at their vote share, though MVA is more affected in a sense as both MVA and VBA vote bases overlap.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the VBA, which had an alliance with AIMIM, got 14 per cent vote share and created a big dent in the Congress vote bank which impacted it and the NCP badly.
In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the VBA has declared three lists and 51 candidates which include people from all communities. According to the VBA leadership, they intend to contest all or most of the 288 seats of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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