VBA chief Ambedkar meets Sharad Pawar; says it does not mean he’s joining INDIA bloc

Ambedkar and Pawar shared the stage at an event titled ‘Unleashing India’s Economic Potential: Dr Ambedkar’s Legacy Live’ at YB Chavan Centre in South Mumbai

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar had an informal meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, a significant political development which could be seen as an ice-breaker between the two leaders and as a step towards the latter’s inclusion in Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi.

VBA chief Ambedkar meets Sharad Pawar; says it does not mean he’s joining INDIA bloc

Ambedkar and Pawar shared the stage at an event titled ‘Unleashing India’s Economic Potential: Dr Ambedkar’s Legacy Live’ at YB Chavan Centre in South Mumbai.

An invitation by NCP Supriya Sule, the two also had coffee after the session. “There were 15 more people (during their meeting). We had coffee in Pawar’s office (at YB Chavan Centre) after the event,” said Ambedkar.

When asked to Ambedkar if this could be a step towards him joining the opposition INDIA bloc to which he responded in negative.

Differences between Pawar and Ambedkar grew in the 2019 elections when votes polled by Ambedkar led VBA to eat into the opposition Congress-NCP alliance’s votes. While Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is keen on the inclusion of Ambedkar-led VBA in the MVA coalition to improve its chances of winning elections, Pawar has been sceptical of the Dalit leader. The meeting between the two is seen as a significant step in this background.

“I would not speak about MVA, as nothing happened on that front in the meeting. I do not think anything will happen until the elections to five states (next month) are over,” Ambedkar added.

Ambedkar’s VBA, the alliance of various outfits representing SC, ST, and VJNT had polled more than 7% votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and had resulted in the defeat of many stalwart leaders including Ashok Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde.

A section of the MVA alliance feels it imperative to join hands with Ambedkar, who has a sizable following among Dalits.

Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan termed the meeting a good omen. “The MVA and VBA must come together for the upcoming polls. Even though Ambedkar said that they met over coffee, it is a positive development. There could be further communication in future between the two alliances,” he said in a press statement.