Last Update: February 20, 2023, 14:19 IST
The biggest impact of VBA’s decision will be on Thackeray. (twitter file)
Bypolls will be held for Kasba Pethe (Pune) and Pimpri-Chinchwad on February 26. Although the MVA is trying hard to show that they are united, the VBA has decided to support an independent candidate.
Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which recently aligned With Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction, before Election decision of the Commission (EC) to grant Sign And the Shiv Sena, named in the Eknath Shinde-led group, has decided not to support the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate in the upcoming bypolls.
Bypolls will be held for Kasba Pethe (Pune) and Pimpri-Chinchwad on February 26. The MVA is an alliance of the Thackeray faction with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
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While the MVA is trying hard to show that they are united, the VBA has decided to support an independent candidate.
Speaking to News18, VBA spokesperson Siddharth Mokale said, “The Congress does not seem united in the state. Top Congress leaders are making statements against their state president. The relationship between the NCP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also a cause of concern for us. We want to stop the BJP from coming to power.
Trust issue with NCP
,NCPIn 2014, it extended outside support to the BJP to form the government in the state. On the morning of 2019 swearing-in of BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as CM, NCP’s Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. Keeping these factors in mind, we are not supporting NCP in Pimpri bypoll. Also, Rahul Kalate should have been the candidate from Pimpri, as he has a strong hold in the area, but the MVA did not give him the ticket. We are supporting him as he is contesting as an independent.
Another hit for Uddhav
The VBA’s decision will affect Thackeray the most as he will have to strike a balance between his alliance partners. As VBA is repeatedly making statements against NCP and Congress just before the bypolls, there is confusion in the minds of voters about MVA.
Uddhav faction leader Anand Dubey said, “Our leader is Uddhav Thackeray, he is also a prominent MVA leader. He had already said that he would try to bring Prakash Ambedkar along with the MVA. Negotiations underway. We will fight the Lok Sabha or Assembly elections together. Before that we hope VBA will become part of MVA. They are an independent party, we do not know why they took this decision.
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The NCP, another ally in the MVA, reacted sharply to the move. NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, ‘Sharad Pawar is a big leader of the country. What should we do if someone has differences with him? Shiv Sena is part of the MVA and Ambedkar has aligned with a party of the MVA, but is not a member of the MVA. By criticizing Sharad Pawar, Ambedkar is trying to get the fame he is looking for.
After the split, Thackeray tried to forge alliances with various parties to strengthen himself. However, the leaders Thackeray has tied up with are fighting among themselves. Experts say that if this rift is not resolved before the much-awaited Mumbai civic elections, then Thackeray’s problems will increase further.
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