nIn an effort to bring about the opposition unity in Maharashtra, the top brass of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA will meet Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Wednesday to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha polls.
At the meeting, the MVA leaders -- NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray and and state Congress President Nana Patole --- are expected to dissuade him against going it alone in the Lok Sabha polls and ask him to settle down for a reasonable number of seats to be given by the Opposition front.
Last week, the VBA had submitted a list of 27 Lok Sabha seats that it intended to contest. However, the MVA leadership was no in mood to agree to such a “high”.
Subsequently, Ambedkar had gone on record saying: “I can only say that if the VBA contests independently, we can win a minimum of six seats”.
A two-time Lok Sabha MP from Akola and one-term Rajya Sabha MP, Ambekar will in all likelihood contest the polls from Akola in the Vidarbha region.
In addition, the VBA has also requested MVA to field Shivba Sanghatana founder Manoj Jarange-Patil, who is leading the Maratha reservation campaign, from Jalna in Marathwada, while it has asked to field Dr Abhijeet Vaidya from the Pune seat.
The VBA, which Ambedkar heads, is a group of Dalits, Tribals, Dhangars, Kolis, Agris, Banjaras, Malis, Kaikadis and other communities.
The VBA has tied up with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to contest the Lok Sabha polls
Last month, the MVA leadership had formally invited Ambedkar to be part of the opposition coalition. However, Ambedkar has not yet conveyed his decision officially to the leadership of MVA, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP (SP).
It may be recalled that in the LS polls, Ambedkar had an electoral arrangement with Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The VBA-AIMIM alliance had cut into the traditional vote banks of the Congress and NCP prospects resulting in two parties losing more than a dozen seats.