Prakash Ambedkar’s outfit VBA to contest by-polls on all 26 seats in Madhya Pradesh

After Mayawati’s Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), another Dalit outfit has announced that it will contest by-polls on 26 seats in Madhya Pradesh.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), a newly-formed party launched by BR Ambedkar’s grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, made this announcement on Tuesday in Indore.

The VBA, which had made a major dent in the vote share of established political parties in Maharashtra during 2019 Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections, may also dent the traditional vote bank of the BJP, the Congress and the BSP in the by-elections.

The party is eyeing reserved seats such as Agar Malwa, Nepanagar, Sanwer and 16 seats of Gwalior-Chambal region which has a robust population of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe voters.

Earlier, the BSP, which has two MLAs in Madhya Pradesh, had announced that it would contest the upcoming by-polls on all seats.

The VBA’s state election incharge Mahesh Choubey on Tuesday held a meeting with party workers in Indore and discussed the strategies for the Sanwer by-polls. “We have decided to contest the upcoming by-polls on 26 assembly seats,” said Choubey after the meeting.

After making a huge impact in Maharashtra elections as a newcomer, the VBA is planning to strengthen the party in Madhya Pradesh. “Our prime focus is to create a third front in the state; therefore, we are approaching political parties other than BJP and Congress to form alliances and contest the upcoming elections,” Choubey said.

Choubay said that the party’s convenor Prakash Ambedkar wanted to give equal opportunity to the deprived sections of society in every field including politics. “This way we can ensure the development of every section of society,” he said adding that soon, the party will announce the candidates for the upcoming elections. And our prime focus would be on reserved seats, he said.