Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi invited for MVA meet in Mumbai on Jan 30: Raut

Pune: Amid a buzz over seat-sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls due this year, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar has been invited for a meeting of MVA constituents in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Ambedkar appealed to the Shiv Sena (UBT) to ally with the VBA for the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra if the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) members fail to finalise a seat-sharing formula.

Ambedkar then said the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the VBA can contest 24 seats each (out of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state) in the upcoming general polls.

NCP president Sharad Pawar earlier this month said the MVA, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress, is talking to the Left parties and Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA to stitch up an alliance for the upcoming polls.

Asked about VBA's alliance with the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Raut on Monday said the MVA constituents will have a final meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday and all other parties have been invited.

"Ambedkar's VBA has been cordially invited to the meeting, and they have accepted the invitation," he said.

"Ambedkar's stand is very clear. He has already announced his stand against the current dictatorial policies in the country and the constant insult of the Constitution, and the MVA also shares the same stand," Raut said.

So, the VBA will not take any stand which will help the BJP directly or indirectly, he claimed.

The MVA on January 25 invited the Prakash Ambedkar-led outfit to be a part of the opposition alliance in Maharashtra and join it for a discussion on seat-sharing.

A letter signed by Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, Jayant Patil of the NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut was sent to Ambedkar, requesting him to depute senior leaders from the VBA to join the seat-sharing talks.