More trouble for MVA in Maharashtra: Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA issues an ultimatum, breaks ties with Sena

With weeks to go for the Lok Sabha elections, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar severed ties with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Sunday and issued a March 26 ultimatum to the alliance to conclude seat-sharing talks.

Ambedkar, who had formed the Bhimshakti-Shivshakti alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT) last November, also accused MVA constituents Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) of “pursuing their own political interests” while ignoring the VBA.

The VBA chief’s move is perceived as the party’s intention to go solo in the Lok Sabha polls or ally with like-minded anti-BJP or anti-Congress parties as it did five years ago. “I have given a March 26 ultimatum to the MVA. Seat-sharing must conclude by then. It cannot go on indefinitely. We are not happy with how things are progressing,” Ambedkar told The Indian Express.

On calling off the alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT), Ambedkar said it was meaningless as the Uddhav Thackeray-led party was now a part of the MVA. “An individual partnership with one of the MVA’s constituents makes no sense. All decisions must be taken collectively,” he said. Pointing out that there was a lot of ambiguity in the MVA’s functioning, he asserted that his party was keen on putting together an anti-BJP, anti-RSS front in Maharashtra.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the Bhimshakti Shivshakti alliance was not politically driven and was formed for a social cause as Uddhav’s grandfather Keshav Thackeray, who was fondly called Prabhodhankar, and the VBA’s chief grandfather Dr B R Ambedkar had worked together against casteism. “We look up to Prakash Ambedkar, who is the grandson of B R Ambedkar, to reconsider his decision and