Remarks made by Prakash Ambedkar about Sharad Pawar cause division in MVA alliance

After Prakash Ambedkar made controversial comments about Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, the new alliance between the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahunjan Aghadi (VBA) has generated considerable controversy in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Sharad Pawar, according to Prakash Ambedkar, is still a member of the BJP in an interview with a regional channel. He claimed that Sharad Pawar was responsible for the NCP leader Ajit Pawar swearing in as deputy chief minister alongside the then-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP leader.

Prakash Ambedkar recalled that after taking the oath, Ajit Pawar asked a newspaper interviewer why everyone was blaming him when the party had decided to join forces with the BJP.

NCP state president Jayant Patil responded by suggesting that Sharad Pawar’s decision to end the state’s President’s Rule by taking an early morning oath with the BJP may have been a ‘smart move.’ Even though Prakash Ambedkar has now joined forces with Uddhav’s Sena, another NCP leader and MLA, Jitendra Awhad, retorted that he will not tolerate such accusations against their party’s leader.

Awhad cautioned him to use caution when speaking negatively of a leader who serves as a father figure to many people similar to him.

Even Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut reacted against Prakash Ambedkar, pleading with him not to disrespect one of the MVA’s main pillars. In fact, Raut argued, he ought to respect Pawar’s efforts to consolidate opposition to the BJP. Prakash Ambedkar reacted angrily to Raut, telling him that he would have only taken this piece of advice into consideration if Uddhav Thackeray had said so.

Meanwhile, Nana Patole, the state president of the Congress, disagreed with Ambedkar’s assertion, saying that the VBA should not be recognised because it has not yet joined the powerful MVA alliance. Similarly, NCP has told the Shiv Sena leadership to give VBA seats from their quota outside of the Mumbai civic elections because it is not ready to accommodate VBA in seat sharing.

Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, hinted at the political squabbling among MVA leaders when he said, during a Thane event, ‘This is just the beginning. You will see soon what happens next.’ Ambedkar’s grandson had made a remark about the NCP leader.