Prakash Ambedkar
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: In a significant statement, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founder-President Prakash Ambedkar said that if his party gets numbers it would support the party or alliance which is in a position to form the government in Maharashtra.
This comes as a message for both - the ruling BJP-led Maha Yuti and Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A.) opposition bloc.
“If VBA gets the numbers, tomorrow, to support a party or an alliance to form the government in Maharashtra, we will choose to be with one who can form the government,” Ambedkar posted on X.
“We will choose power!…hum satta me rehna chahange,” Ambedkar said.
Ambedkar, the 70-year-old lawyer-activist-politician is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution.
Popularly known as Balasaheb, he is a two-time Lok Sabha MP from Akola and a one-term Rajya Sabha MP.
The VBA is contesting 200 seats of the 288 seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Ambedkar had floated the VBA on 20 March 2018, however, so far have not managed to win a single seat in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls. However, it has emerged as an important force - and the impact of the VBA has been felt by the opposite alliances - Maha Yuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi and before that the saffron alliance and Democratic Front.
In the run up to the polls, Ambedkar has called upon the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to get 100 MLAs elected among these communities and see the change. Besides, Ambedkar also appealed Muslims to be part of the party.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the VBA, which then had an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, got 14 per cent vote share and created a big dent in the Congress vote bank and impacted it as well as the NCP badly. The VBA's following comprises Dalits, Adivasis, Dhangars, Kolis, Agris, Banjaras, Malis, Vanjaris, Kaikadis, Muslims, and other communities. However, before the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, the VBA-AIMIM alliance broke, but it had an impact on the ground.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Ambedkar had engaged in talks with the Maha Vikas Aghadi-I.N.D.I.A. bloc leadership - and even shared a dais with Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, who is now Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, however, the deal did not materialise.
In 2019, in the Lok Sabha polls, the VBA had garnered 6.98 per cent vote share while it managed 5.57 percentage in the Vidhan Sabha polls. In the 2024 general elections, the vote share was 2.77 per cent.
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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