Lok Sabha Polls: After MVA Snub to VBA on Seat Sharing, Will Prakash Ambedkar Stand Alone?

jVanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar will soon be clearing his stand about joining the Maha Vikas Aghadi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He is likely to make this announcement in Maharashtra’s Akola on Wednesday (March 27).

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had offered Ambedkar three seats in response to his demand of contesting from 27. According to sources, he had refused to take this offer following which negotiations came to a standstill.

Last week, the VBA chief set a deadline of March 26 for the Shiv Sena (UBT) to conclude alliance talks and give his party some clarity. He has called a meeting of VBA leaders in Akola on Tuesday evening, where the current scenario will be discussed and a decision made.

Ambedkar is likely to file his nomination from Akola on March 28. Last year, he allied with the Shiv Sena calling it ‘Bhim shakti and Shiv shakti’. There were several questions about the alliance as NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Ambedkar have had trouble in the past. Later, Pawar agreed to take him on board.

Sources close to Ambedkar said the VBA leadership is unhappy with how the MVA has treated them, especially as the party is prepared to contest from 27 seats. The Shiv Sena (UBT) being the alliance partner also did not support Ambedkar during seat-sharing talks, and he felt that Uddhav Thackeray should have first held seat-sharing talks with the VBA rather than the MVA, they added.

Sources further said the VBA had offered the MVA a list of seats it was prepared for and confident about. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party was in alliance with the AIMIM and ended up splitting Congress and NCP votes on seven to eight seats.

Together, the VBA-AIMIM alliance had managed to attract Dalit and Muslim majority votes last time. But, since the AIMIM is no longer a part of the alliance, it will be interesting to see if Ambedkar decides to contest as a standalone party this time and whether he can attract those Muslim votes.

There are, however, questions about what will happen if he does put up candidates against the MVA, and if that will ultimately end up helping the BJP.