Latur, Feb 8 (PTI) The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, led by Prakash Ambedkar, on Sunday accused the Congress of ignoring it after winning the elections to the Latur Municipal Corporation and said it would contest the polls for mayor and deputy mayor if denied a share in power.
The Congress’ city president, Kiran Jadhav, said the party would be guided by its state leadership on the matter.
The Congress and the VBA had a tie-up in the recent elections to the Latur civic body in Maharashtra. Of the 70 electoral wards in the city, the Congress won 43, followed by the BJP (22) and VBA, which got four seats.
Congress corporator Jayshri Sonkamble and VBA’s Nikita Somwanshi on Thursday submitted their nominations for the post of mayor, while Snehal Utage of the Congress and Sachin Gaikwad of the VBA filed nominations for the deputy mayor’s position.
Elections to these posts will be held on February 9.
Addressing a press conference here, VBA’s Marathwada general secretary Santosh Suryawanshi claimed that the Congress benefited from the alliance with his party and returned to power in Latur.
However, he alleged that after its victory, the Congress has been avoiding granting due representation — deputy mayor’s post for some time or a place in civic committees — to the VBA. Citing local Congress leaders, he said Latur MLA Amit Deshmukh has been authorised to take a call.
Suryawanshi said he has urged Deshmukh and Jadhav to clarify what specific role or share in power will be given to the VBA. “If the Congress denies a share in power, VBA will contest the polls for the position of mayor and deputy mayor,” he said.
Asked about the VBA’s demand, Jadhav told PTI that the party would wait for instructions from senior Indian National Congress leaders on the matter. PTI COR NR
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