Others not taking BJP head-on, VBA main Opposition in Maharashtra, says Prakash Ambedkar

In an interview, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar blames Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut for falling-out with Maha Vikas Aghadi and rules out any future alliance with bloc.

Prakash Ambedkar | ANI

Mumbai: The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will emerge as the principal Opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra, VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar has said.

In an interview with ThePrint, Ambedkar also ruled out any future alliance with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), formed by the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT).

The VBA has decided to field 40 candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, Ambedkar said, blaming the falling-out with the MVA on Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut. He said the Sena (UBT)’s Subhash Desai had initiated the VBA-MVA tie-up, but when the INDIA bloc emerged and seat-sharing was on the table, Raut took over the talks from Desai, leading to differences.

“We are now the prime Opposition as far as the BJP is concerned. There is reluctance on the part of the Congress, the NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray to take the BJP head-on,” he said.

Ambedkar, who has been contesting elections from Akola since 1985, is facing off against the BJP’s Anup Dhotre and Congress candidate Dr Abhay Patil this election.

He said that since the beginning, the Congress always had opposed him despite his attempts at peace — a charge that Congress leaders have denied.

“Let him say whatever he wants to; we have decided not to say anything against him. He is the grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar and we respect him,” a senior Congress state leader told ThePrint.

In 2019, the VBA allied with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and ended up edging out the Congress-NCP alliance in at least seven seats in the Lok Sabha elections that year. VBA-AIMIM garnered 41 lakh votes, amounting to a 14 percent vote share. But the alliance fell apart days ahead of the assembly election later that year, and the VBA’s performance by itself was lacklustre.

Ambedkar denied that the VBA-AIMIM alliance ruined the chances of the Congress-NCP, saying that instead, the latter had damaged his chances.

“If you analyse those constituencies, whoever was there, either the Congress or the NCP, they did not have Hindu votes, and instead they blocked the Muslim votes. So, the story goes the other way — the Congress is blocking Muslim votes from going to secular parties. I don’t think the Congress is secular,” he said.

Ambedkar tied up with Shiv Sena (UBT) in 2023 but decided to snap ties when the MVA did not meet his demands. He had suggested the MVA divide the 48 Lok Sabha seats equally — 12 for each of the four alliance partners.

For the seat-sharing talks, which remained inconclusive, he had been sending his representatives. At times, he had asked that the invitation to attend the meetings come from Rahul Gandhi or Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and not the state Congress president.

Going solo

In addition to fielding candidates in 40 seats, Ambedkar plans to support candidates of other parties in five seats. He will not field anyone in two seats, including Sangli. In one seat, a VBA leader’s candidature stands cancelled.

Ambedkar said the party had been in touch with Sena (UBT) leader Desai and “there was a good understanding”. “But suddenly, Uddhav Thackeray shifted Desai out of the talks and introduced Sanjay Raut. Desai had grassroots understanding, but Sanjay — according to me — except Mumbai, does not understand much,” he said.

Desai, he added, was working towards the alliance, but Raut was working with the MVA to corner the VBA. “Once we found that out, we decided not to continue with it (the alliance). Since Uddhav Thackeray was no longer in control of the situation and Sanjay had taken over, it was better for us to part ways,” said Ambedkar.

Just as he decided to walk away from the MVA, Ambedkar also did now show any confidence in his previous partner, AIMIM. He told ThePrint that the AIMIM broke the alliance during the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections.

“In 2019, our combination won the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat, which Congress-NCP did not win for many elections. So, Imtiaz Jaleel, the sitting MP, not just got Muslim votes but also Hindu votes, and he won. But after that, they (AIMIM) walked away. So, the OBC (Other Backward Classes) lobby within our party said no more alliance with them if they only use us. So, we, today, have direct relations with Muslims, and we don’t need anyone (any party),” he said.

Ambedkar wanted an alliance with Maratha leader Manoj Jarange-Patil this time, but the latter said no. However, Ambedkar said he still feels Jarange is tacitly supporting the VBA.

“Indirectly, he is indicating, whoever has not supported him, people should not vote for them. My hunch says he controls 30 percent of the Maratha votes within the community. So, my hunch is that 30 percent of the votes will go to those who supported him. And neither the Congress nor the BJP nor the Shiv Sena supported him. So, these 30 percent voters have two choices — the NCP and the VBA,” he said.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)