Following the souring of the seat-sharing deal with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar has sharpened his attack against the Opposition parties.
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On Friday, Mr. Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, accused the Opposition coalition of having done ‘match-fixing’ with the ruling BJP on at least 20 Lok Sabha seats.
After the breakdown of his alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the VBA’s parleys with the MVA over seat-sharing, Mr. Ambedkar has targeted Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, accusing the latter of having reportedly formed a ‘covert’ alliance with some BJP leaders.
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Speaking in Chandrapur, Mr. Ambedkar further said that Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s agitation would have a big impact on the Lok Sabha election in the State as would the OBC voters of Maharashtra.
“This is going to be an unpredictable election because both Manoj Jarange-Patil and the OBC voters are going to have a big impact. No party has taken note of the Jarange-Patil factor. The poor sections among the Maratha community looks up to him today. At least 30% of the Maratha voters will vote in the way in which Mr. Jarange-Patil asks them to vote,” Mr. Ambedkar said.
He said that the Maratha activist had exhorted people to not vote for either the ruling Mahayuti or the Opposition MVA alliances.
The VBA chief also said that as a result of the Maratha quota rallies that had taken place, the OBC section of voters, too, had awakened politically and were determined to safeguard their rights. Mr. Ambedkar hinted that the ruling government’s attempts to appease both sections with false promises would boomerang on them.