Mumbai: At a time when the seat-sharing arrangements within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi is being finalised, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) founder Prakash Ambedkar on Friday said that his party can win six Lok Sabha seats on its own strength.
A lawyer by profession, Ambedkar, a two-time Lok Sabha MP from Akola and one-term Rajya Sabha member, is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution.
The VBA is a constituent of the MVA, the I.N.D.I.A opposition bloc in Maharashtra, which comprises of Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SCP) and other parties like CPI and CPI (M).
Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, second after Uttar Pradesh's 80.
The VBA has demanded 27 seats as part of the alliance, a demand which may be difficult to concede.
During an interaction with the media in Nagpur, Ambedkar hinted at the possibility of going alone.
“The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress have a tussle over seat sharing and we (VBA) are still outsiders. Our discussion will begin once they sort out their own issue. However, the VBA can independently win at least six Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and is ready to field its candidate on 46 Lok Sabha seats if the alliance does not work out,” said Ambedkar.
Ambedkar is crucial for the MVA, especially when facing a major challenge from the BJP-led Maha Yuti or NDA.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-NCP Democratic Front suffered a dent in vote bank because of VBA and Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which defeated them in more than a dozen seats. However, the VBA-AIMIM alliance broke before the 2019 Assembly polls.
Published 01 March 2024, 13:23 IST