“Will lend full support to Congress on 7 seats in Maharashtra”: VBA president Prakash Ambedkar writes to Kharge

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 19 (ANI): Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi President Prakash Ambedkar on Tuesday offered to “lend full support” to the Congress on seven seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections after he claimed that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), were unwilling to listen to his party.

The state will vote in five phases for 48 constituencies in the upcoming general elections.

In a letter to Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday, Ambedkar requested him to enlist the names of 7 constituencies from the quota allotted to the Indian National Congress in the MVA.

He also recalled a meeting with Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi at the Samapan Maha Samaroh of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai on March 17. “We could not engage in an extensive conversation and hence I am writing to you today”.

He said that the schedule of the elections has been announced and Maha Vikas Aaghadi has been meeting continuously without inviting Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi for any discussions or meetings.

“The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) have refused to listen to VBA’s representatives in the numerous MVA meetings and we have lost faith in both of these parties due to their unequal attitude towards VBA in the MVA,” he said.

“Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi’s prime agenda remains the same — unseat the fascist, divisive, undemocratic BJP-RSS government. With this thought, I have decided to lend VBA’s full support to the Indian National Congress on 7 seats in Maharashtra,” he said in his letter.

“I request you to enlist me the names of 7 constituencies from the quota allotted to the Indian National Congress in the MVA. Our party will lend its complete ground and strategic support to the candidates of your party on these 7 seats of your choice,” he said.

This proposal from Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi to the Indian National Congress is not only in goodwill but also an extension of a friendly hand for a possible alliance in the future, he said.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi consisting of the Congress, the Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SPawar) have not detailed out their seat sharing agreement despite numerous meetings between alliance partners.

Lok sabha Elections 2024 would be held in seven phases starting on April 19 and ending on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.