Maharashtra Congress asked to hold seat-sharing talks with Prakash Ambedkar: Chennithala

Dhule (Maharashtra): Congress's Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday said the state unit leadership including Nana Patole has been asked to hold seat-sharing talks with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and other like-minded parties.

The statement came days after Ambedkar snubbed an invite from leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance -- state Congress chief Patole and leaders of Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) -- for seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections, and also claimed that Patole had no powers to hold such talks.

Speaking to reporters here after reviewing the party's Lok Sabha elections preparations in north Maharashtra, Chennithala said Patole, state legislature party leader Balasaheb Thorat and former chief minister Ashok Chavan have been assigned the responsibility of holding talks with VBA and other like-minded parties.

Ambedkar, in an angry outburst earlier this week, had said the respective presidents of the three Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents should invite him for talks.

Chennithala, meanwhile, also informed that Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will enter Maharashtra from Dhule.