Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Tuesday gave the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra one more day to decide on his demands for seats to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.
”Yes, I have given the MVA one more day to decide. I have also canceled my press conference scheduled for today,” Ambedkar told The Indian Express.
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While Prakash Ambedkar had earlier demanded 16 seats to contest for his party out of the total 48 in Maharashtra, the MVA alliance of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) offered him four seats. The VBA chief hit back at the MVA, saying they could keep the four seats to themselves. When asked about the seats his party wanted to contest, Ambedkar has now refused to comment.
VBA spokesperson Farooq Ahmed, however, said, ”We have not demanded any seats. We had urged the Maha Vikas Aghadi to tell us where they offered us the seats. When we were not part of the alliance, we focused on (contesting) 26 seats of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. When we joined the alliance, we gave them the list of 26 seats and urged them to allot seats from this lot. They then offered us four seats where the MVA had no strength. Then we gave them a list of 16 seats and told them to allot us from it. They have yet to reply.”
VBA sources said if the party does not get the seats it intended to contest, it will go solo and might support the MVA on some seats, like Kolhapur. ”The VBA chief has already extended support to Congress candidate Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati in Kolhapur,” a VBA leader said.
Prakash Ambedkar has been miffed with Shiv Sena (UBT) for not pushing VBA’s case during MVA meetings. Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut, however, said the VBA is an integral part of the MVA.
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”Prakash Ambedkar has been raising his voice strongly against the attempts being made to destroy our democracy and trample upon our sacred Constitution. He is taking on the Delhi regime in his own way. We know his nature. He is an articulate person and does not hold himself back. Everyone knows about his straightforward approach. We are confident that the VBA and Prakash Ambedkar will remain with the MVA to unseat the current rulers seeking to divide the people of this nation,” Raut said.
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 would be announced as part of the nationwide counting on June 4.
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