2024-03-25 12:04:52
Mumbai: The conch shell for Lok Sabha elections 2024 has been announced. Meanwhile, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar broke ties with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Sunday. Apart from this, amidst the tussle in Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) regarding seat sharing, he has warned that a decision should be taken before March 26. Otherwise he is free to take his own decision. He said that the decision on seat sharing between Aghadi’s constituent Congress, Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Uddhav Sena has not been taken. There is a tussle going on between the three on many seats. Especially in Sangli seat of Western Maharashtra, both the parties are face to face.When was Bhimshakti-Shivshakti alliance formed?
In fact, Ambedkar had formed the Bhimshakti-Shivshakti alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) last November. He accused MVA constituents Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) of neglecting him and pursuing their own political interests. The VBA chief’s move is seen as the party’s intention to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone or form an alliance with like-minded anti-BJP or anti-Congress parties. He had done something similar five years ago i.e. in the last Lok Sabha elections. Ambedkar said that I have given an ultimatum of March 26 to the MVA. By then the seat-sharing crisis should end. This cannot go on indefinitely.
What did Shiv Sena say on breaking alliance with UTB?
On breaking the alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT), Ambedkar said it was meaningless as the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is now part of the MVA. He said that there is no point in personal partnership with any constituent of MVA. All decisions should be taken collectively. Pointing out that there was a lot of ambiguity in the functioning of the MVA, he asserted that his party was keen to form an anti-BJP, anti-RSS front in Maharashtra.
What did Sanjay Raut say on the break of alliance?
On the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that the Bhimshakti Shivshakti alliance was not politically motivated. It was created for social purpose. Because Uddhav’s grandfather Keshav Thackeray, fondly called Prabodhankar, and VBA chief grandfather Dr BR Ambedkar had worked together against casteism. Raut said that we will ask Prakash Ambedkar, who is the grandson of BR Ambedkar, to reconsider his decision. He said they hope to make the fight against BJP and its dictatorship a common agenda.
How Ambedkar’s party hurt Congress-NCP
The Army (UBT) chief said the alliance with VBA would not be at his expense. MVA partners with whose support he formed the government in 2019. Fearing division of anti-BJP votes, MVA is demanding VBA. Even though the party does not have any MLA or MP. In fact, before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, VBA had formed an alliance with anti-BJP parties. VBA formed an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM. The party polled around 35 lakh votes and its candidates damaged the prospects of the Congress-NCP (then in alliance) on at least eight to 10 seats. In the assembly elections held later that year, the party is said to have split the secular vote and damaged the Congress-NCP’s prospects in at least 32 assembly constituencies.
Why does VBA want more seats?
Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the MVA’s vision has always been to unite like-minded secular parties. He said that VBA is an important ally and we want it to remain in MVA. MVA insiders said the VBA’s hard bargaining did not appeal to the alliance leaders. A section of Congress leaders claimed that the VBA was not interested in an alliance and that was why it was placing unreasonable demands. The MVA is understood to have offered four seats to the Ambedkar-led organisation, which is eyeing eight seats. The VBA’s contention is that after the split in the Sena and the NCP, the parties have become quite weak and all constituents of the alliance are equal partners.