Congress stitches alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi for BMC elections

Mumbai: After days of discussion and disagreements, Congress and Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi on Sunday declared the alliance for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

As per the understanding reached between both parties, the VBA will contest 62 out of 227 seats in Mumbai.

The Congress is also in the process of stitching an alliance with the Left parties in certain pockets of Mumbai.

“Both parties are natural allies with a common agenda of safeguarding constitutional values. Congress and VBA, in its earlier form of Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh, have fought together before 1999, and the results were such that we swept the majority of Lok Sabha seats. However, that tradition was discontinued. I am happy to announce that we have now decided to fight the Mumbai elections in alliance,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Harshavardhan Sapkal, in a joint press conference held in the presence of VBA leaders.

However, Mumbai Congress chief and Lok Sabha member Varsha Gaikwad and VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar could not attend the press conference due to prior commitments.

Two parties contested the recently-concluded Municipal Council and Municipal Panchayat elections together in some districts.

The Congress hopes to consolidate its Dalit votebank after allying with the VBA across the state.

In addition, the ground-level workers of VBA could also benefit Congress. The VBA, which has virtually zero electoral presence in municipal corporations, aims to gain entry into urban local bodies.

VBA vice-president Dhairyavardhan Pundkar said that the alliance is beneficial to both parties.

“Had two of us allied earlier, the BJP could not have made the inroads in Maharashtra. But it is better, we have decided to join hands now,” he said.

Party spokesperson Siddharth Mokale said that local units of the VBA have been given authority to finalise their alliances at their level.

When asked about Prakash Ambedkar’s “stinging criticism” of Congress a few days ago, Mokale said that the argument was ideological, and not personal. “The issue is now over,” he said.

Earlier, Congress refused to ally with the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to avoid the wrath of the North Indian voters and minorities. As the MNS and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena(UBT) tied up for the BMC polls, the Congress decided to chart its own path and joined hands with the VBA.

IANS