Mumbai: The chief of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Prakash Ambedkar, challenged former chief minister, Sushilkumar Shinde and has announced will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Solapur Constituency.
Ambedkar said, VBA leader Laxman Mane has urged him to contest from Solapur instead of Akola. Ambedkar’s candidature is likely to bring Shinde in trouble, as it would lead to direct division of the Dalit votes, since both Ambedkar and Shinde are Dalit leaders. Moreover, Solapur too has a majority of Dalit population.
Speaking at a public rally in Akola on Monday, Ambedkar said, Mane had announced his name as a candidate for the Solapur constituency last week, at a rally in Kolhapur. Ambedkar confirmed, this time he would choose Solapur instead of his traditional constituency, Akola.
Congress is yet to announce the names of their candidates. The selection committee of the Congress has recommended the name of Shinde for Solapur. Shinde is a former union home minister and also former chief minister of the state. On the other hand, Ambedkar’s VBA has an eye on Dalit, Muslim and backward class communities. According to J V Pawar, general secretary of Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM), said Ambdekar can be a spoiler for Shinde.
“Ambedkar will cause a dent to the traditional Congress vote bank and will make it difficult for Shinde,” said Pawar. However, he denied the allegations that the contest between Ambedkar and Shinde will help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
