‘Modi has turned every election into a panchayat poll… crossed Laxman Rekha’: Prakash Ambedkar

The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) contested the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra alone after negotiations with the INDIA bloc failed. With the elections for 48 Lok Sabha seats of the state drawing to close, its president Prakash Ambedkar reflects on his party’s performance in an interview with The Indian Express, asserting that regional parties fought Prime Minister Narendra Modi with greater zeal. Excerpts:

I believe there was a close contest in all the 48 seats. Whichever alliance – the NDA or Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – wins, the margins will be very narrow, unlike past elections where candidates won by a huge margin.

Our assessment suggests we are winning three of the 38 seats we contested. Our vote percentage will increase from the 6.75% we secured in 2019.

Modi turned these polls into gram panchayat polls as the campaigns were vitriolic. There were personal attacks and the language used by the PM was disgusting. He brought down the stature of the PM’s post. The polls also exposed how vulnerable Central agencies are and how they have become tools of the ruling government.

Yes, every PM has campaigned. Previously, PMs only campaigned in Lok Sabha polls and just made their presence felt in Assembly polls with a couple of rallies. In Modi’s case, he campaigned in almost every Lok Sabha constituency. He does the same in Assembly as well as local body polls. He has turned every poll into a gram panchayat election.

I think the BJP will see losses in the Lok Sabha polls while regional parties across the country will perform better. The Congress, which had hit rock bottom (in 2019) will only gain. It will not be right to predict numbers as two more phases of voting remain. The BJP’s ‘400 paar’ mission will be severely dented.

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