VBA promises OBC quota in job promotion

Mumbai: In a bid to woo Other Backward Classes (OBC) voters ahead of the Assembly election, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar on Tuesday announced that it will sanction reservation in job promotion for those belonging to the category if voted to power.  

Mr Ambedkar said that an independent budget would be earmarked for educating OBC students and that scholarships would be given to OBC students if the VBA is voted to power in October.

Meanwhile, the party also gave an ultimatum to the Congress to respond to the party’s seat-sharing proposal by August 31.

Last week, the VBA had offered 144 seats to the Congress. However, the latter hasn’t responded to the offer so far. In July, the VBA had offered just 40 seats to the Congress.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr Ambedkar targeted Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for allegedly playing vendetta politics.

“The ruling party wants to completely eliminate the Opposition. Those holding constitutional posts are only pawns. Their master is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),” he said.

Mr Ambedkar added that the ruling party is targeting not only the Opposition but also its opponents within the alliance.

The VBA leader also said that the alliance with the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) would continue in the upcoming Assembly election.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the VBA had cut into the vote share of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Moreover, VBA’s ally, the AIMIM, won the Aurangabad seat; its candidate Imtiyaz Jaleel defeating Shiv Sena veteran and sitting MP Chandrakant Khaire by a margin of 5,000 votes.