As the Opposition is battling ally troubles on many fronts, its attempts to get the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) led by Prakash Ambedkar on board in Maharashtra has been sputtering, in fits and starts. On Thursday, Ambedkar responded to an invite by Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole to join seat-sharing talks with the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance by questioning Patole’s authority on the matter.

The MVA had requested Ambedkar to send a representative to the talks, in n a letter signed jointly by Jayant Patil of the NCP (Sharad Pawar), Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Patole.

Speaking to The Indian Express on his refusal to attend, Ambedkar said: “We have already conveyed our reasons (for not attending the meeting) to the Congress. Firstly, we received the invitation at 1 pm for the 3 pm meeting.” Accusing the Congress of creating “confusion”, the VBA chief added: “AICC leaders said they will talk to us when the elections are announced. When the central leadership has taken a stand, there is no reason for state Congress president Nana Patole to decide on the VBA. Does he really have the power to decide (whether or not to include VBA in the alliance)?”

Ambedkar also said that his political stand has been consistent and his party would join any party or coalition which is “sincere” in its fight against the RSS and BJP. “Elections or not, the VBA has been fighting the RSS and BJP. Our ideology remains uncompromised. The problem is with the Congress, whose central and state leaders make different statements leading to confusion,” he said, adding that the VBA would join the INDIA bloc or MVA provided it was treated as an equal.

Ambedkar’s stand appears to stem from the fact that the Congress, Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar NCP did not consider his outfit during the earlier INDIA bloc meetings in Delhi and Mumbai.

A couple of months ago, the VBA chief had exhorted the MVA to take quick decisions on alliance partners and seat-sharing formula. He also suggested that he, along with the MVA parties, divide the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, leaving 12 for each.

Ambedkar indicated as much while speaking to The Indian Express, saying that while “everybody wants to fight the BJP, no one did anything about the alliance or seat-sharing”. “Hence, I suggested that the Congress, Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar) and VBA contest 12 seats each. It is not a rigid formula and there is scope for some give and take.”

However, the MVA parties are unlikely to agree to this formula given that the VBA currently has no representation in either the Assembly or the Lok Sabha, though its sizable vote share among the Dalits and OBCs in parts of Vidarbha, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra makes it a valuable partner.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha and subsequent Assembly polls, VBA candidates are believed to have dented the chances of a significant number of Congress-NCP nominees. In 9 Lok Sabha seats, VBA candidates had secured between 50,000 and 1.7 lakh votes, seen at the expense of the Congress-NCP, while in the Assembly elections, the outfit had got 4.58% of the votes, which is estimated to have cost 32 seats for the then alliance.

The MVA is keen on getting the VBA on board keeping this in mind and its aim of preventing the split of “secular votes”, the idea behind the INDIA bloc as well, especially at a time when there is intense polarisation between the Marathas and the OBCs over the quota issue.

“The 2024 elections are a much bigger battle and are not about a single party or front. Our fight is against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. We have to save democracy and want the VBA to join the MVA,” Patole said.

Patil echoed Patole’s view and said the MVA would be happy to have the VBA on board as it is fighting to save the Constitution and democracy.

Incidentally, the VBA is already a partner of the Shiv Sena (UBT) since 2022. The alliance, often referred to as the Shivshakti-Bhimshkati, was sealed during an event in Mumbai where both Uddhav Thackeray and Ambedkar pledged to follow in the footsteps of their grandfathers. Uddhav’s grandfather Prabodhankar Thackeray and B R Ambedkar had worked together in the early 1950s against social evils such as casteism, dowry, etc and were associated with the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, which fought for statehood for Maharashtra.

Ambedkar said the VBA’s alliance with Uddhav was still intact. “We will wait and see how the situation evolves with the MVA,” he added.

In his career spanning over four decades, Prakash Ambedkar (69) has pursued politics on his terms and conditions, earning the tag of being an “unpredictable politician”. He forayed into politics in the 1980s with the Republican Party of India (RPI). Following the RPI’s disintegration into several splinter units, he floated the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh in 1994 with an eye on the Dalit and OBC voters.

To expand his party’s base beyond caste and community lines while keeping his Dalit, OBC and Muslim base intact, Ambedkar then renamed his party as the VBA ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which he fought in alliance with the AIMIM.

Since then, the alliance has fallen apart.

Now, as the push for Maratha quota gets more aggressive under activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, Ambedkar is looking to champion the rights of the OBCs, which constitute around 52% of the state’s population. Under the banner of the OBC Mahasangh, a conglomeration of OBC groups, the VBA chief is exhorting OBCs to fight for their rights against mainstream political parties.

“There are 169 Maratha families which control the economics and politics of the state. They feel threatened by the political empowerment of the OBCs and use poor Marathas to serve their own interests. We have to fight them,” Ambedkar said at a public rally in Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad) on Wednesday.

He also warned voters about the “divisive politics” of the BJP, which he said was detrimental for democracy. “It will have huge ramifications on Dalits, OBCs and tribals,” he added.