Maharashtra: Ambedkar's demand for larger pie delays MVA seat-sharing deal

While the ruling NDA is inching closer to sealing the seat-sharing deal with its allies in Maharashtra, the Opposition MVA’s talks seem to have hit a roadblock due to Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) led by Prakash Ambedkar seeking a larger share of seats.

The MVA, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar), held a marathon meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday during which Ambedkar proposed to contest 10-12 Lok Sabha seats in the state. He is particularly insistent on Akola, Dindori, Ramtek, Amravati, and one seat in Mumbai. The MVA leaders have not announced the seat-sharing formula yet.

Prominent MVA leaders like Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP president Sharad Pawar, and Congress’ Balasaheb Thorat held deliberations with the VBA chief for the first time to discuss the possibility of forging an alliance with his outfit. The MVA leaders assured Ambedkar that they would discuss his proposal and get back on March 9 for a second round of meetings to decide on MVA’s seat distribution.

‘MVA not with me’

The uncertainty over the alliance with Ambedkar has delayed MVA’s seat-sharing decision. Pleading anonymity, a leader present in the meeting said, “We’re trying to take along Ambedkar, but the alliance doesn’t seem easy. We are also prepared for a scenario in which the alliance doesn’t materialise. Therefore, we have worked out two seat-sharing formulas: with and without VBA.”

According to one formula, Uddhav Sena would be allocated 23 seats, Congress would get 15 and Sharad Pawar’s NCP will contest 10 seats. However, if the VBA decides to join the alliance, it will be given seats from the existing quota of these three constituents after a reshuffle of numbers.

Ambedkar had reportedly backed out claiming MVA leaders should first resolve the dispute on 15 seats, and insisted on 10 to 12 seats for his party. He said he was confident of winning six seats if he went solo, eyeing Akola, Amaravati, Solapur, Sangli and Wardha which are Congress turfs.

Ambedkar also raised the demand for allocating 15 seats to OBCs and three to minority candidates, which was declined by the MVA leaders. However, given the stalemate in the meeting, Ambedkar reportedly told Thackeray and Pawar during the lunch break that while he was “with MVA, it seems MVA is not with me”.

Bid to evade vote split

Political analysts said the three MVA allies are making every effort to induct Ambedkar in their alliance to avoid any possibility of division of votes.

Though the VBA didn’t win even a single Lok Sabha in the 2019 general elections, the vote split it caused proved decisive on various seats, prompting the three MVA allies to invite Ambedkar for talks and negotiate a deal. For instance, the VBA candidate from the Nanded Lok Sabha seat secured more than 1.6 lakh votes, and the consequent division of votes worked to the advantage of the BJP candidate, resulting in the defeat of Congress candidate Ashok Chavan by a margin of nearly 40,000 votes.

‘Commit no ties with BJP’

Meanwhile, the MVA members will have to meet another condition put forth by Ambedkar on Wednesday amid the delay in the seat-sharing arrangement.

He has demanded written commitments of no ties with the BJP from MVA constituents either before or after the Lok Sabha elections. VBA spokesperson Siddhartha Mokle, who attended Wednesday's meeting, said that Ambedkar pointed out that there are rumours that some of the allies in MVA are in talks with the BJP. He added that the party is against such double standards and won’t tolerate anyone jumping ship before or after the polls.

NDA inching closer to deal

On the other hand, the BJP is inching closer to sealing the sear-sharing deal with its allies – Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP with both of them likely to settle for fewer seats than they asked for in the meetings held in Mumbai in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

While the BJP is all set to don the role of ‘Big Brother’ in Maharashtra with the party eyeing 30 to 34 seats, the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena is expected to get 10 to 12 seats. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP may get 4 to 6 seats.

Shah reportedly told Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar that the ruling alliance will have brighter prospects of emerging victorious if maximum seats are fought on BJP’s symbol. The BJP has made up its mind to contest 30 to 34 seats and may even field leaders from its allies on the ‘lotus’ symbol.

A senior BJP leader said, “Krupal Tumane from Ramtek is Shinde faction’s sitting MP, but may be fielded as a BJP candidate. Similarly, Shinde faction’s South Central Mumbai MP Rahul Shewale may opt for lotus to improve his chances of winning. NCP’s Dharmaraobaba Atram could also be our candidate from Gadchiroli.” The BJP leader said more MPs may move from the Shinde camp to the BJP as the elections approach.