Thackeray faction announces new alliance for Mumbai civic polls

Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray faction in Maharashtra announced an alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), headed by Prakash Ambedkar, for the Mumbai civic polls. Former Maha chief minister Thackeray made the announcement on Monday, his party’s first major election after Shiv Sena split last year and his government fell, NDTV reported.

Thackeray engaged in talks with Ambedkar, the grandson of the drafter of the Constitution BR Ambedkar, for the last two months.

Making the announcement on the birth anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray said that he is satisfied and happy that many people in Maharashtra wish to see the new alliance.

He further said that his grandfather and BR Ambedkar were colleagues and fought together against the social issues at that time. Thus Thackeray and Ambedkar have a history, and currently, their future generations fight against the current issue of the country.

Meanwhile, Prakash Ambedkar said that the alliance started a beginning of new politics in India. They have been organising protests against social issues and whether they win or not is in the hands of the voters. However, providing people with a chance to contest is in the hands of political parties.

Ambedkar said that now only the two factions and Congress haven’t accepted it. He hopes that Sharad Pawar will also join the alliance.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by Uddhav Thackeray lost power in June last year after a coup conducted by his own party colleague Eknath Shinde. After the government fell, Eknath Shinde joined with BJP to form the new government in the state.