Absent from 28-party INDIA show: Maharashtra Oppn outfits of Prakash Ambedkar and Raju Shetti

VBA president Prakash Ambedkar said he was not going to attend the INDIA conclave in Mumbai. “I have not received any invitation for INDIA meet. So, my question of attending it does not arise,” he told The Indian Express.

Although the VBA has forged an alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, the party has not yet taken any decision whether it will be part of the state Opposition alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises the Sena (UBT), Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction.

“The Congress has not given any invitation to us to attend the INDIA meeting,” Ambedkar said. Admitting that Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole is his “friend”, he said, “Unless things are absolutely clear what is the point of joining or not joining the INDIA meet.”

He said the key question is whether the INDIA is serious in fighting the PM Modi-led BJP head-on in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls or not. “I always believe all like-minded secular parties should come together and work. But then every constituent should be treated with respect,” he said.

The VBA chief said the NCP status was also “confusing”. “On one hand, the Ajit NCP faction has joined the BJP coalition government in Maharashtra. The Pawar faction is with INDIA. At the same time, NCP maintains it has not split but there are just differences. So, everything is so confusing,” he said.

Ambedkar also said the VBA would fight the 2024 Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls in alliance with the Uddhav Sena.

In 2019, the VBA had contested the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections alone. Although the party could not win a single seat then, it dented the prospects of the Congress and the NCP in some pockets of its influence.

Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana

The farm union SSS’ president and ex-MP Raju Shetti told The Indian Express that the MVA had invited him to the INDIA conclave, but he is “boycotting” the meet due to the “anti-farmer policies” of the previous MVA government.

Shetti was part of the MVA alliance when it was power, but had walked out of it over farm issues. “They had then unilaterally decided to fragment the payment of the Fair Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane and also diluted the Land Acquisition Act. This was done without any consultation with us. As a member of the alliance we should have been consulted at least,” he said, referring to his party’s break-up with the MVA.

While leaving the MVA, Shetti had written a letter to NCP chief Sharad Pawar over these concerns which, he said, had gone unanswered.

“Over the last one year or so not a single leader of the (MVA) had contacted us. Now, with the elections round the corner they have decided to do so. Also without taking our consent they went ahead to declare that I will attend the meeting,” Shetti said, adding that Patole had contacted him last week to extend the invite for the INDIA event.

The suspense over his participation in the Opposition grouping event had built up with Shetti refraining from opening his cards. Now, he, however, said, “We are not to be taken for granted and thus we have decided to go alone in our pursuit of justice for farm issues.”

Meanwhile, the MVA leaders expressed confidence that Shetti would be part of the anti-BJP coalition in Maharashtra.

The farm leader had earlier been also part of the BJP-led NDA but had quit the alliance after the 2014 elections.

In the 2019 parliamentary polls, Shetti was defeated in the Hatkanangle seat

in Kolhapur district by the then undivided Shiv Sena’s Dhairyasheel Mane, who is now part of the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Sena faction.

Sources said Shetti is again planning to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Hatkanagale.

Swabhimani Paksha, the SSS’ political arm, has a presence in Kolhapur and some other parts of the state, but the defection of senior leaders has weakened Shetti-founded outfits.

The SSS is currently facing the threat of a split as Ravikant Tupkar, its second most important leader, has raised a banner of revolt against Shetti.

The SSS supremo built up his strong base in the state’s sugar belt, but he has lost his hold significantly over the last few years. His defeat in Hatkanagale was seen as a reflection of public dissatisfaction over his frequent political alignments.

During the 2019 Assembly elections his party leader Devendra Bhuyar won

its lone seat from Amravati. However, Bhuyar was later suspended from the party in the wake of his differences with Shetti. He later joined the Ajit-led NCP faction.

Shetti has now been struggling to keep his outfit afloat even in his home turf of Kolhapur and Sangli districts. He has claimed his party would contest five-six Lok Sabha seats in 2024. This however seems to be an uphill task for him.