‘Sleeper cell within Congress sabotaged alliance with VBA’: Prakash Ambedkar on why the tie-up faltered ahead of BMC polls

The Congress has lost a golden opportunity in this municipal corporation polls, said Prakash Ambedkar. (file)

With Maharashtra set to vote in 29 municipal corporations across the state on Thursday, the Congress and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) alliance was projected as a smart move against the BJP, especially in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). In Mumbai, the Congress set aside 62 seats for the Prakash Ambedkar-led VBA out of the total 227, yet the alliance appears to have failed to generate the expected momentum. In an interview with Shubhangi Khapre, Ambedkar speaks about the complex nature of polls and politics.

Prakash Ambedkar: The Congress has lost a golden opportunity in this municipal corporation polls. Allying with the VBA was good for them, but it failed to properly translate into reality. While the party set aside 62 seats for us in Mumbai, the talks were half-hearted in the rest of Maharashtra. Even in Mumbai, the top Congress leadership did not hold a single meeting with us to discuss the roadmap. There was no joint rally or campaign.

Our initiative to raise controversial issues – like why the export of beef has increased during the tenure of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or why 50 per cent tariff was imposed on India by US President Donald Trump – were dismissed as non-issues.

Prakash Ambedkar: Look, the VBA has its own agenda, which is anti-BJP. And we wanted the Congress to take a very hard line against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP. There is a sleeper cell within the Congress which sabotaged the alliance. Its leaders did not want to share space with the VBA. And I have reasons to believe that they had their own political motives and interests to guard. I don’t want to name them.

Prakash Ambedkar: Ideally, Opposition unity was necessary. But then the Congress took the decision not to join hands with the Shiv Sena (UBT) as it struck an alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The Congress knows that in a broader alliance, its votes get transferred to Uddhav Thackeray’s party. But the Hindu votes of the Thackerays don’t come to the Congress. In that sense, it appears the Congress wanted to retain its own vote bank of North Indians, Muslims, etc.

Prakash Ambedkar: The sizeable Dalit vote bank will drift to us. We have our electoral base of Dalits and OBCs. The Dalits, who aligned with the Republican Party of India (RPI) are also disillusioned with the ruling BJP as they have been kept out of power-sharing in the civic polls. Moreover, the backward community believes the right-wing forces like the RSS, BJP have a long-term agenda to undermine the Indian Constitution, which is unacceptable to the community.

Prakash Ambedkar: The union of the Thackeray brothers has given the people a good feeling, especially old-time Marathi manoos who believe the family’s divide was unfortunate. The loyalists of Balasaheb Thackeray have heaved a sense of relief with the Thackeray family reuniting. However, I doubt this reunion will drastically alter politics as the Marathi vote bank is unlikely to consolidate in favour of any one party or bloc. It will be divided among all three blocks contesting the polls.

Prakash Ambedkar: The RSS-BJP believes Hindutva is the best bet to polarise people along Hindu versus Muslim lines. The BJP banks on Hindu consolidation. If we look at their politics, they have always adopted the divide-and-rule formula. Sometimes, it is Hindu versus Muslims. At other times, it is OBC versus Marathas. So, what we witness in the local body polls is as per the script. The BJP knows it cannot win Muslim voters, which is decisive in many pockets. To counter this, it is sticking to Hindutva. It is also a strategy to unsettle the Thackerays.

Prakash Ambedkar: Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city and Mumbaikars have always believed in inclusive and accommodative politics. They subscribe to diversity. I still believe that the threat to the Constitution is an issue. People do not like the political high-handedness of ruling parties.

Prakash Ambedkar: It is not about who is joining whom, or who is aligning with whom. The larger issue is democracy. Do those in power want democracy? That is the real concern. It is not about winning or losing the BMC or other municipal corporation polls. Where are we heading? If things continue like this, one wonders if there will be elections in the future.