MVA formally inducts Ambedkar party into oppn coalition

Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders have sent a letter to Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar, informing him that the three MVA parties have decided to include VBA in the opposition coalition. The MVA has also included other parties such as CPI, CPIM, PWP, AAP, and JD(U). The inclusion of VBA will be significant for the coalition in Maharashtra.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders on Tuesday evening sent a formal letter to Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar to inform him that the three MVA parties had decided to include VBA in the opposition coalition. The MVA has also included the CPI, CPIM, PWP, AAP and JD(U)—the last party led by Nitish Kumar has significantly chosen to stick with the MVA in Maharashtra although Nitish quit the national opposition coalition, INDIA, two days ago, to again join hands with the BJP.

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The MVA meeting to discuss the alliance and seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls was held at the Trident. Congress state president Nana Patole, senior Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad, the NCP Pawar faction’s state president Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s MPs Sanjay Raut and Vinayak Raut attended the meeting. The leaders of all like-minded parties were invited, and MVA leaders discussed their inclusion in the coalition. “Today we have expanded the MVA and included the VBA, CPI, CPIM, PWP, JD(U) and AAP,” said MP Sanjay Raut after the meeting. “Prakash Ambedkar will attend the meeting on February 2.”

MVA leaders had requested Ambedkar to attend the January 30 meeting but he sent party vice-president Dhairyavardhan Pundakar instead. Pundakar put forth several conditions in his discussions with MVA leaders, one of them being a formal letter from the coalition stating that the VBA was part of the MVA. MVA leaders accordingly issued a formal letter to Ambedkar, signed by Nana Patole, Jayant Patil and Sanjay Raut.

Pundakar also asked the leaders to clarify their stand on the Maratha reservation quota and the central government’s now-repealed farm bills. He informed them that Ambedkar was against Marathas being included in the OBC quota, while he approved of the farm bills, which should therefore be part of the MVA’s common minimum programme.

The inclusion of the Ambedkar-led outfit will be politically significant for the opposition coalition in Maharashtra. In the 2019 elections, votes polled by VBA candidates had led to the defeat of several Congress-NCP candidates, including former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde. The VBA has a good support base of scheduled castes, OBCs and Muslims, and MVA leaders are hoping that its inclusion will help them win several Lok Sabha seats. It will also boost the coalition, given its diminished strength after the defections from the Shiv Sena and NCP.