Prakash Ambedkar to contest from Akola once more, says MVA infighting will not end
VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar had contested from Akola and Solapur in the last Lok Sabha elections but lost in both seats.
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Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar.Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar announced on Sunday that he would contest Lok Sabha elections 2024 from Akola in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. He said the infighting among Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents over seat sharing would not be resolved.
Talking to The Indian Express, Ambedkar said the VBA would announce its other candidates soon. The party plans to contest 27 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. The VBA decided to go solo in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 after its seat-sharing talks with the MVA did not reach a consensus.
In 2019, Ambedkar contested from Akola and Solapur but lost in both seats. He tasted success from Akola in 1998 as a candidate of the Republican Party of India and a year later, in 1999, as a candidate of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh.
However, Akola has been a BJP stronghold since 2004, when Sanjay Dhotre won the seat for the first time and retained it in the three subsequent elections. The BJP has replaced Sanjay, who is ailing, with his son Anup for 2024.
Ambedkar’s effort to get Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on board for an alternative front to challenge the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the Opposition MVA has yet to come to fruition. Ambedkar said, “Jarange-Patil is not keen to get into politics. But the VBA will contest the Lok Sabha polls with the support of Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities, poor and oppressed Marathas.”
“The VBA made a list of 27 Lok Sabha seats for which we had prepared. We submitted it to the MVA leaders, but they did not reciprocate,” Ambedkar reiterated the reason for the fallout with the MVA. He said the differences between MVA constituents – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) – show no sign of resolving as each brings out its list of candidates.
“We had offered to support Congress in seven seats. But as of now, our support is confined to Congress candidates in Kolhapur and Nagpur. This has nothing to do with our alliance. It is candidate-based support, he added.
“They have blamed us for breaking the alliance. The fact is they are not interested in consolidating like-minded parties. The battle is not between secular and communal or the BJP and the rest. Within MVA parties, the established leadership is unwilling to accommodate the deprived segments. They want to enjoy the fruits of power at any cost,” he added.
Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be held in five phases in Maharashtra. April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20 are the polling dates and the results will be announced as part of the nationwide counting on June 4.
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