Prakash Ambedkar Criticizes Uddhav Thackeray Over Dalit Voter Recognition
Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar on Monday hit out at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray saying the latter did not give credit to the Dalit community for the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi’s big win in Maharashtra in the recently held Lok Sabha polls. It shows his (Uddhav) true mentality, he said.
Ambedkar said that Dalit voters played a major role in Maha Vikas Aghadi’s success in Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, but Shiv Sena UBT did not consider it important to even mention them.
“A good example of “Garaj Saro Vaidya Maro.” (One does not care about the doctor as soon as the problem or need is over). Upper caste Hindus voted for BJP and not Shiv Sena or Maha Vikas Aghadi. Dalits, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Bahujans voted for the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MVA in this election. But the role of Dalits, Buddhists in saving their party is not even worth mentioning. This is their true mentality!” Ambedkar wrote on X.
“Dalits and Buddhists, be wise now. You’ve saved their party but you’re not even mentioned by them,” he added.
His comments came after Thackeray said that all people including Marathi, Hindu, Muslim and Christians voted for the MVA in the Lok Sabha polls. He was reacting to BJP leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ claims that majority of Muslim community voted for the Shiv Sena (UBT).
“People from all religions and languages voted overwhelmingly for the MVA to save democracy,” Thackeray sad.
The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which fought separately, again failed to win a single seat in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections and also saw its vote share dropping significantly. The VBA contested 35 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state and secured over 1.58 million votes, as against over 4.2 million votes in 2019. Ambedkar, who is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, had contested from Akola and Solapur and lost both seats.
