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Mumbai: Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut responded to remarks by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar, who claimed that the real Shiv Sena party belongs to Eknath Shinde. During a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday, Raut stressed that Prakash Ambedkar, as the heir of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, should honour his legacy.
He suggested that Ambedkar should study the law more closely if he believes Shiv Sena belongs to Shinde. Raut also highlighted that other parties, such as the one led by Ramdas Athawale, have also emerged suddenly from Ambedkar's party and are now led by different people.
During the conference, Raut also discussed Uddhav Thackeray's visit to Delhi and the situation in Bangladesh. He mentioned that Thackeray had arrived in Delhi and would engage in several important meetings over the next two days. Raut noted that some key Congress leaders would be meeting Thackeray today in the evening and Thackeray would interact with Marathi journalists in Delhi.
Ambedkar's Remarks On Real Shiv Sena
Ambedkar, addressing a press conference as part of his 'Aaraskshan Bachao Yatra', claimed that Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena UBT received votes from aarakshanvadis and Muslims. He argued that if one examines the strike rate of the Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray factions in the Lok Sabha polls, Shinde's strike rate is double. This, he claimed, indicates that Shiv Sainiks (workers of the undivided party) now consider the party under Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena.
On June 24, Shinde stated that his party won fewer seats than the Shiv Sena UBT but had a better strike rate. In the Lok Sabha polls, the Shiv Sena UBT won nine out of 21 seats from Maharashtra, while the Shiv Sena won seven constituencies after fielding candidates in 15.
VBA's Impact On 2024 Lok Sabha Elections
Ambedkar also floated a Third Front, which impacted five seats: Akola, Beed, Buldhana, Hatkanangle and Mumbai North West. Despite putting up or supporting candidates in most constituencies, Ambedkar's party only managed to make a dent in these five seats.
Ambedkar himself contested from Akola but lost to BJP's Anup Dhotre, with Congress's Dr Abhay Patil in second place. Dhotre received 4,57,030 votes, Patil got 4,16,404 votes, and Ambedkar secured 2,76,747 votes.
