Mumbai: Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Ashok Chavan, though claimed the party has not stopped negotiations with Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) chief Prakash Ambedkar about seat sharing for the upcoming general election, Ambedkar claimed there has been no concrete proposal as yet from the Congress for an electoral alliance. On the other hand, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said if the Congress is ready for the alliance with Ambedkar, he is ready to quit ‘Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’ (VBA) in the interest of BBM.
Ambedkar, who has forged an alliance with Owaisi’s AIMIM to contest the Parliamentary and Assembly polls under the banner of the VBA, further said in absence of a proposal from the Congress, the BVA was ready to contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.
“The Congress is suddenly interested in supporting me in the Lok Sabha election. Thought, it has always propped candidates against me since 2004, this sudden affection for me is ‘double-faced’,” remarked the BBM leader. In the 1999 general election, while the BBM contested 34 LS seats in state, only Ambedkar won the lone seat for his party in Akola. Since then, despite contesting the seat, Ambedkar has endured defeat at the hands of BJP’s Sanjay Dhotre.
Given the revival of Ambedkar’s leadership post the Bhima-Koregaon clashes last year, the Congress is eager to have him as an ally to get the Ambedkarite votes. However, it is vehemently opposed to including the AIMIM in its coalition. “There are instances when the Congress has an understanding with the BJP, as in the case of the Udgir municipal council. So, the Congress first ought to mend its own fences before imposing conditions on us,” said Ambedkar.
