Describing it as “naya rasta and naya rishta,” the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Monday finally announced their alliance after months of to and fro and also made it clear the VBA will be part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Thackeray said they have kept the other members of the alliance, Congress and the National Congress Party, in the loop about this and that they have no problem.
“The Shiv Sena and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi have decided to come together. The future political roadmap will be decided on the situation that prevails at that particular moment,” said Thackeray at a joint press conference he held with Prakash Ambedkar in Mumbai on the occasion of Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray’s birth anniversary.
“We have embarked on a naya rasta and naya rishta (a new road and a new relationship),” said both leaders.
While the Congress party said it has no problem with a like-minded party joining the MBA fold, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said Sunday he does not want to get into the issue of the alliance and Ajit Pawar will speak about it.
Stating he hopes Pawar will also come along, Ambedkar said, “I have read the reaction of Sharad Pawar. There is nothing new in it. Our feud is very old. It is not about farming it is about leadership… I am hoping that he will join hands with us because I look at this battle with a different perspective”.
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “At a time when our democracy is under threat, a like-minded party joining the MVA fold is a positive move. We have no problem with VBA joining hands with us. As regards seat-sharing, it will be discussed as the situation emerges.”
Thackeray said the alliance, which has come after a split in the Sena, has been formed keeping in mind the current political scenario.
“We need to take to the people whatever that is happening in the country. The Prime Minister was in Mumbai last week. When the election draws near, the poor are praised. After they vote, they find themselves on the road. On the other hand, they (PM) keep flying high. All this needs to stop and that is why we have come together,” the Sena (UBT) chief said.
“People are misled by triggering controversies… We want to free people from such ideological pollution. To keep our democracy alive and maintain the sanctity of our Constitution, we have come together.”
Ambedkar said the coming together of Shiv Sena (UBT) and VBA will lead to politics of change. “Voters decide who will get elected. But it is up to the political parties to decide who should contest… The rise of dynastic politics has sidelined concern for the poor. And that is why capitalists and looters are at the helm of power,” he said.
“When we go through the manifesto of the Janata Dal, it promises the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. Unfortunately, Janata Dal fell apart on the issue of the Mandal Commission report. When we try to tackle social issues, the mathematics of social set-up also changes.”
Slamming the Central Government, Ambedkar said, “Today, attempts are being made to finish off the political leadership through the Enforcement Directorate. If a leader has done anything wrong, then action should be initiated against him. Take him to court and then put him in jail. But currently, they are not being taken to court but are put in jail in a bid to humiliate the leadership.”
“No one is immortal. No one has come with an ‘immortal belt’ around him. Similarly, one day, it will be all over for Narendra Modi.”
