Mumbai: Virtually ruling out the possibility of joining hands with the Opposition’s grand alliance, Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar said that his front would contest all 48 seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. “No further talks will be held with the Congress leadership,” he said.
“Several proposals were made for forging an alliance with the Congress but nothing came out of it. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has already announced candidates in 22 seats and will declare the remaining names soon. We will contest all 48 seats in Maharashtra,” said Mr Ambedkar in Akola Tuesday.
Mr Ambedkar is likely to contest the Solapur seat against senior Congress leader and former Union home minister Sushilku-mar Shinde in the Lok Sabha polls.
Mr Ambedkar’s decision to fight independently is expected to affect the Congress and NCP heavily. For the Lok Sabha polls, he has forged an alliance of his Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh party with the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) in Maharashtra.
Their rallies have been receiving good support from the Dalit and Muslim community, which is the traditional vote bank of the Congress. Mr Ambedkar’s front is likely to divide the Dalit and Muslim votes, causing a severe dent to the Congress’ chances in the LS polls.
The Congress had tried desperately to accommodate Mr Ambedkar’s front in the Opposition alliance. However, the Dalit leader remained firm on his demand for more seats. He also refused to withdraw from the seats, where he had already announced his candidates. The Opposition alliance had decided to allot only the Akola seat to Mr Ambedkar.
