The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will today announce their alliance for the upcoming BMC elections. Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and VBA founder Prakash Ambedkar will address a joint press conference on Jan 23, the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray.
This was confirmed by former minister and Shiv Sena UBT leader Subhash Desai on Sunday. His statement came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the bugle for BMC elections after the launch and inauguration of a slew of development and transport infrastructure projects in Mumbai.
The Shiv Sena UBT is struggling to stay afloat after the Eknath Shinde-led rebellion and the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. This alliance would be important to revive and consolidate its grip to retain the BMC. For VBA, which has its presence restricted to parts of Vidarbha, the tie-up will be an opportunity to increase its presence in Mumbai.
Projected as a tie-up between Shivshakti and Bhimshakti, such an experiment took place when the Shiv Sena stitched an alliance with Ramdas Athavale-led Republican Party of India which didn’t last.
Ambedkar has already clarified that VBA will not join hands with BJP. He had met Shinde twice but ruled out the possibility of a tie-up with his faction.
Ambedkar said that Thackeray is also engaged in talks with the NCP and Congress about the Sena-VBA tie-up and feels that the announcement should be made together by all parties.
