Thackeray ties up with VBA, eyes Dalit votes in Maharashtra

Battling to revive its fortunes after a vertical split in the party, Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, has now announced an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).

Eyeing Dalit support

The move, which the Uddhav faction hopes will help it consolidate support among Dalits, assumes great significance as it comes ahead of civic polls in Maharashtra. The terms of several municipal corporations, including those of Mumbai, Thane, Pune, and municipal councils, ended last year but polls could not be held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Big battle for Mumbai

The major concern for the Uddhav faction right now is to retain power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which it has been ruling for the last over 25 years, as the BJP along with its rival Shinde faction is eyeing the Sena citadel now.

The recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave ample hint that the BJP will pull out all stops this time to throw Sena out of the BMC.

Back in 2017, Shiv Sena had managed to win barely 84 seats out of 227 in the BMC, closely followed by the BJP with 82 seats. The results came as a shock for Uddhav who would often say, “Mumbai belongs to the Shiv Sena, and Sena to Mumbai”. It was for the first time in over two decades that a party had got so uncomfortably close to the Sena in BMC.

Also read: Modi sounds poll bugle for BMC polls, targets Uddhav faction for ‘hampering’ Mumbai’s development

Bhim Shakti-Shiv Shakti experiment

In the prevailing scenario, the Sena’s new Bhim Shakti-Shiv Shakti experiment (an alliance of Sena and Dalit leaders) holds great promise for the Uddhav faction, with Dalit voters capable of swinging nearly 50 per cent of Mumbai’s 227 electoral wards. However, it won’t be a cakewalk for the Sena-VBA alliance, as there are also many RPI factions in the poll fray, one of which RPI (A), led by Ramdas Athawale, is the ally of BJP.  The Sena had in the past tied up with Athawale’s RPI faction ahead of the 2012 BMC elections.

Inheritors of two legacies join hands

The alliance between Sena and VBA, which Uddhav dubbed as the “inheritors of two legacies uniting to save democracy”, may also bring in electoral gains for his Sena faction in Vidarbha region. It is pertinent to mention here that VBA is led by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of BR Ambedkar. Incidentally, the announcement of the alliance coincided with the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

VBA left its mark in 2019 LS polls

The VBA, in alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Though it failed to win any of the constituencies, it bagged 14 per cent of the votes cast in the state and affected Congress’ poll prospects in at least 7 seats. The Congress again blamed VBA for the loss of at least 25 seats in the 2019 assembly elections.

Will VBA be part of MVA?

The alliance has been forged for fighting the civic polls as of now and it is yet to be seen whether the VBA would also become a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising Shiv Sena Uddhav faction, Congress and NCP.

While Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe has hailed the move and said they have no problem with VBA’s entry into the MVA fold. However, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who apparently doesn’t share a good equation with Ambedkar, refused to respond to media queries on the alliance, stating that senior party leader Ajit Pawar will speak on the issue.