E-Paper
Prakash Ambedkar attends Opposition alliance’s Lok Sabha seat-sharing talks
Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is believed to have been keen on including Ambedkar in the alliance given his following among socially backward communities
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Friday attended a meeting of the Opposition alliance to discuss seat-sharing for the national polls due this summer. On January 30, the alliance sent Ambedkar a letter about VBA’s inclusion in the grouping.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’s Sanjay Raut, Congress state chief Nana Patole, former chief minister Ashok Chavan, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad were among who attended the meeting.
Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is believed to have been keen on including Ambedkar in the alliance given his following among socially backward communities even as the Congress and the NCP chief Sharad Pawar did not favour it. The splits in Shiv Sena and NCP are seen to have compelled a change of heart.
The votes VBA polled in the 2019 national polls hurt the prospects of Congress-NCP combine in at least half a dozen seats including those of former chief ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan.
The VBA contested the last polls in alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, whose Imtiaz Jaleel defeated four-time Shiv Sena lawmaker Chandrakant Khaire in Aurangabad.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has an alliance with Ramdas Athawale’s Republican Party of India (A) in Maharashtra. Ambedkar’s entry into the Opposition alliance is expected to help consolidate Dalit votes in its favour.
Maharashtra sends the second highest lawmakers (48) after Uttar Pradesh (80) to the 543-member Lok Sabha.
