VBA planning to contest all 48 LS seats in Maharashtra, says Prakash Ambedkar citing uncertainty over seat-sharing

‘Nothing is clear on MVA front. So we do not want to face a situation where an election announcement takes the VBA by surprise. Therefore, we have decided to prepare to fight all 48 Lok Sabha seats in the State,’ he said.

The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is preparing to contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, its leader Prakash Ambedkar said in Akola on September 30.

He said he will hold a campaign meeting in this connection on October 2.

The VBA is in alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) but a seat sharing formula can be worked out only after the latter talks to its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Congress and NCP, Mr. Ambedkar pointed out.

"Nothing is clear on this (MVA) front. So we do not want to face a situation where an election announcement takes the VBA by surprise. Therefore, we have decided to prepare to fight all 48 Lok Sabha seats in the State," he told PTI.

Some days ago, Mr. Ambedkar had said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had not replied to his September 1 letter about the VBA's participation in the Opposition bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).