Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi President Prakash Ambedkar on March 19 extended his full support to the Congress in seven seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha election.
He claimed that the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party under Sharadchandra Pawar have been unresponsive to his party.
Mr. Ambedkar, in a letter to Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, requested the inclusion of seven constituencies from the quota allocated to the Indian National Congress in the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
He recalled a previous meeting with Mr. Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, stating that due to time constraints, he was reaching out in writing. “VBA’s prime agenda remains the same - unseat the fascist, divisive, undemocratic Bharatiya Janta Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh government. With this thought, I have decided to lend the VBA’s full support to the Congress in seven seats in Maharashtra,” Mr. Ambedkar said. He also expressed disappointment at being excluded from MVA discussions despite the election schedule being announced. The Dalit leader cited the refusal of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) to engage with VBA representatives and expressed loss of faith in both parties.
Despite numerous meetings within the MVA, which includes Congress, Shiv Sena, and NCP, the seat-sharing agreement remains unspecified. The Lok Sabha election will span seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with results announced on June 4.
Published - March 20, 2024 02:24 am IST
