Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi to go it alone in state assembly polls

KOLHAPUR: Voicing his resentment against the Congress and NCP, Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi founder Prakash Ambedkar announced that his party would contest all the assembly seats in Maharashtra without aligning with any party.


Talking to media persons in Solapur on Wednesday, Ambedkar, who is contesting from two

Lok Sabha

seats in Maharashtra - Akola and Solapur, said that the VBA would contest all 288 assembly seats in the state.

Ambedkar ruled out any possibility of seat sharing or negotiations with the Congress and NCP for assembly elections, which will be held by the end of the current year.

He said that his party had already stared preparations for the assembly elections. The VBA would not hold any discussion with the Congress and NCP even if the two parties placed proposals, he said.

Ambedkar said his party would never support Sharad Pawar for the post of Prime Minister. "If the situation arises about choosing between Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati, we will support Mayawati," he said, adding that he would prefer a third front government.

The VBA leader criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for lowering election campaign to a personal level. "Lok Sabha election should be fought on the basis of ideology. Modi indulged in personal allegations," he said.

Ambedkar's rigid stand on seat sharing with the Congress and NCP is significant as VBA candidates have posed serious challenges to the candidates of two parties in the Lok Sabha elections.

The VBA and Congress-NCP share the same vote bank - Dalits and Muslims, though the VBA is pilloried for helping the BJP by dividing common votes.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the VBA has asked for more than 20 seats, which were not accepted by the Congress and NCP. The VBA also has demanded

Baramati

and Nanded seats from where Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan are contesting. The Congress was not interested in having an alliance with Ambedkar because he had already joined hands with Owaisi's AIMIM.