Prakash Ambedkar to contest poll from Akola, Solapur seats

Mumbai: Dalit leader and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi candidate Prakash Ambedkar announced that he will not withdraw, and will contest both Akola and Solapur seats for the upcoming LS polls. Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde is contesting from Solapur while the BJP has fielded Jay Siddheshwar Swami.

Prakash Ambedkar made it clear that he will not withdraw from any of these seats.

“I am contesting both the seats. There is no question of withdrawing from any one of the seats. Since Akola is my hometown, there is no need to spend much time there. But Solapur is a new seat and needs to be given more time. Solapur was my political choice to contest the Lok Sabha election,” said Mr Ambedkar.

The Dalit leader further said that the main fight of the BVA will be against the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the LS polls. “The big leaders of Congress and NCP have already withdrawn from the elections. The Muslims have started supporting the BVA as they feel the Congress-NCP combine has become weak,” said Mr Ambedkar.

BVA’s decision to contest the LS polls separately by not allying with the Congress-NCP combine will result in triangular contests in several constituencies in the state. It is expected to hit the Congress-NCP combine hard, as the BVA is likely to eat into Dalit and Muslim votes, which is the traditional vote bank of the opposition parties.

In Solapur, Mr Ambedkar is contesting against Sushilkumar Shinde from the Congress and Jai Siddheshwar Swami of the BJP. Mr Ambedkar’s candidature is likely to affect Mr Shinde’s chances as Solapur has nearly three lakh Dalit voters.

BVA chief calls Congress leaders ‘Manuwadis’

Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar has termed Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders, who questioned him for using a helicopter during the election campaign, as “Manuwadis”. They cannot digest the fact that a Dalit is using a helicopter, he said.

“Leaders of Congress-NCP like Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan have a Manuwadi ideology. They think how can ashudra like Prakash Ambedkar use a helicopter for the election campaign,” said Mr Ambedkar.

The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) party has hired the helicopter for Rs 80,000 a day and he will continue to use it for electioneering. The agreement has been made with a helicopter company for an amount of Rs 16 lakh. The payment will be made from the party’s account and it is there for everyone to see, he added.

“It is being said that the BVA is being provided funds from outside for holding rallies. However, no one has been able to prove it. The funds are deposited in the party’s account in the form of cheques and cash,” said Mr Ambedkar.

The Congress and NCP leaders have alleged that the BVA has decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls to help the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance by cutting into Dalit and Muslim votes, which are the traditional vote bank of the Congress-NCP.