Prakash Ambedkar-led VBA hits out at Congress, NCP over MVA alliance

Mumbai: The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) has hit out at the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP group for not including its party into the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition alliance even as the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls are approaching.

“The Congress and NCP should learn the importance of forging alliances from history. Hitler was defeated by an alliance of different countries. Why the MVA has not yet invited VBA into the MVA remains the biggest mystery to the people of Maharashtra,” the VBA said in a statement on Saturday.

"Either the MVA is blind of the multiplying popularity of VBA and has not seen the strength in our grand meetings or it is their ego preventing them from inviting VBA into the MVA. Maybe both the Congress-NCP are too proud to take the help from a party representing the discriminated and marginalised,” it said.

"The whole of Maharashtra has seen the numbers in our recent meetings. If the Congress and NCP really want to defeat the BJP, they should keep aside their ego and officially invite VBA into MVA,” the VBA stated.

"We all have seen what a party’s ego and failure to entertain alliances can do; Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are very recent examples,” the party said.

It may be mentioned, earlier this year, the Ambedkar and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray had held a series of meetings and announced an alliance. However, this is outside the umbrella of MVA.