<p>Mumbai: The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Wednesday accused the Congress of spreading “fake news” that the party’s founder-president Prakash Ambedkar would be running as the I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc’s candidate for the forthcoming polls to the post of the Vice President. </p><p>The 70-year-old lawyer, politician and activist, popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is two-time Lok Sabha MP from Akola and one-term Rajya Sabha MP - and is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of Constitution of India. </p>.Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi slams founder Prakash Ambedkar's brother Anandraj after he enters into alliance with Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.<p>“Such false news has been spread in the media before and will continue to be spread in the future. This is the same conspiracy Congress has been running for years, and today, the same tactic is being used again — so that if Prakash Ambedkar rejects any such proposal tomorrow, he and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi can be defamed by being called the B team of BJP,” the VBA said. </p><p>“This is a conspiracy aimed at weakening the recently growing strength of VBA and misleading the people of the Phule-Shahu-Ambedkarite ideology in Maharashtra, especially Buddhists. By creating confusion in people’s minds, this is the same old tactic used by Congress multiple times to divert the votes of Buddhists, Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and the Bahujan community from VBA to Congress,” it said.</p><p>The VBA, in a statement, pointed out that before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and Maha Vikas Aghadi spread rumors that VBA had joined their alliance. </p><p>But the truth is that VBA was deliberately kept out. “Prakash Ambedkar is fighting a legal battle against the increase of 76 lakh votes recorded after 5 PM in the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election,” it said. </p><p>In a detailed response, the VBA said: “For the rights of Buddhists, the grassroots struggle of the 'Mahabodhi Mukti Andolan' in Maharashtra is being fought solely by Prakash Ambedkar and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Prakash Ambedkar is also fighting a legal battle against the UAPA law. The judicial fight for martyr Somanath Suryawanshi is being taken to the Supreme Court by him. He is also actively fighting against the Maharashtra Public Safety Bill. At such a time, such rumors are being deliberately spread to create confusion among the public.” </p><p>“Ambedkar had clarified that in the upcoming local self-government (local body) elections, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is ready to form alliances with political parties other than the BJP and its allies. However, no party from the I.N.D.I.A. alliance has taken any initiative so far. We request all supporters not to fall into this political conspiracy of the media. Casteist elements are conspiring to suppress the Ambedkarite voice,” the VBA said. </p>
<p>Mumbai: The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Wednesday accused the Congress of spreading “fake news” that the party’s founder-president Prakash Ambedkar would be running as the I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc’s candidate for the forthcoming polls to the post of the Vice President. </p><p>The 70-year-old lawyer, politician and activist, popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is two-time Lok Sabha MP from Akola and one-term Rajya Sabha MP - and is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of Constitution of India. </p>.Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi slams founder Prakash Ambedkar's brother Anandraj after he enters into alliance with Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.<p>“Such false news has been spread in the media before and will continue to be spread in the future. This is the same conspiracy Congress has been running for years, and today, the same tactic is being used again — so that if Prakash Ambedkar rejects any such proposal tomorrow, he and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi can be defamed by being called the B team of BJP,” the VBA said. </p><p>“This is a conspiracy aimed at weakening the recently growing strength of VBA and misleading the people of the Phule-Shahu-Ambedkarite ideology in Maharashtra, especially Buddhists. By creating confusion in people’s minds, this is the same old tactic used by Congress multiple times to divert the votes of Buddhists, Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and the Bahujan community from VBA to Congress,” it said.</p><p>The VBA, in a statement, pointed out that before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and Maha Vikas Aghadi spread rumors that VBA had joined their alliance. </p><p>But the truth is that VBA was deliberately kept out. “Prakash Ambedkar is fighting a legal battle against the increase of 76 lakh votes recorded after 5 PM in the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election,” it said. </p><p>In a detailed response, the VBA said: “For the rights of Buddhists, the grassroots struggle of the 'Mahabodhi Mukti Andolan' in Maharashtra is being fought solely by Prakash Ambedkar and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Prakash Ambedkar is also fighting a legal battle against the UAPA law. The judicial fight for martyr Somanath Suryawanshi is being taken to the Supreme Court by him. He is also actively fighting against the Maharashtra Public Safety Bill. At such a time, such rumors are being deliberately spread to create confusion among the public.” </p><p>“Ambedkar had clarified that in the upcoming local self-government (local body) elections, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is ready to form alliances with political parties other than the BJP and its allies. However, no party from the I.N.D.I.A. alliance has taken any initiative so far. We request all supporters not to fall into this political conspiracy of the media. Casteist elements are conspiring to suppress the Ambedkarite voice,” the VBA said. </p>