Uddhav wants tie-up between Vanchit Vikas Aghadi and all MVA partners Ambedkar

Aurangabad (Maha), Jan 16 (PTI) The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena is keen on an alliance between the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and all constituents of the Opposition bloc MVA in Maharashtra, said VBA founder Prakash Ambedkar on Monday.
Ambedkar, speaking to reporters in Aurangabad in central Maharashtra, said tie-up talks were on.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprises the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
“The talks for an alliance are on,” said the Dalit leader, who is the great-grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, ahead of civic and local body elections in Maharashtra.
There are, however, differences among the MVA allies on various issues and they will come out in the open in the next 10 days, said the former Member of Parliament.
Ambedkar’s comments came less than two weeks after Jogendra Kawade-led People's Republican Party of India and the Shiv Sena group headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced a tie-up. Kawade heads one of the factions of the Republican Party of India (RPI).
Another faction of the RPI led by Union minister Ramdas Athawale is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“He (Thackeray) wants the other parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (Congress and NCP) to be in an alliance (with VBA). His efforts for the same are on,” said Ambedkar.
Asked about the views of NCP leaders on making the VBA the fourth partner in the Opposition alliance, he said, “I have nothing to say about it.”
The president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), founded in 2018, criticised the Congress for rejecting its demand for allotting 12 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 polls.
Ambedkar said, “I don't have faith in the Congress. They are focussing on the 2029 (Lok Sabha) elections. Earlier, I had demanded 12 seats where the Congress had been losing polls continuously, but they didn’t give those (to VBA).”
"There are differences between the alliance partners of the MVA. They will be more visible after 10 days,” he said without elaborating.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)