Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi

The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (translation: Deprived Majority Front; abbr. VBA) is an Indian political party founded by Prakash Ambedkar on 20 March 2018.[1] The party is primarily based in Maharashtra state.

Not to be confused with Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi.
Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi
AbbreviationVBA
PresidentPrakash Ambedkar
Secretary--
FounderPrakash Ambedkar
Founded20 March 2018 (2018-03-20)
Merger ofBharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (2019)
NewspaperPrabuddha Bharat
IdeologySocial Equality
Colours  Blue
ECI StatusRegistered Party
Number of states and union territories in governmentMaharashtra

History and background
See also: Republican Party of India and Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh

On 1 January 2018, the name "Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi" was firstly used in a convention held by Dhangar community people at Pandharpur, Maharashtra.[2] The convention was presided over by Prakash Ambedkar. After this so many organizations of all the communities those were exploited, deprived and the communities being constantly subjected to injustice, became involved in this convention. So far, around 100 small political parties and social organizations have participated in this convention.[3] In June 2018, a decision was taken to constitute a political party, that is the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi by all pro-progressive parties in a meeting in the presence of Prakash Ambedkar, Laxman Mane, Haridas Bhade and Vijay More. "There will be the inclusion of all progressive parties in this front (VBA), and this political front will be led by the eminent leader Prakash Ambedkar and existence of each progressive party shall be upheld" In this way, Prakash Ambedkar explained the doctrine of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Later, on 20 May 2018, Ambedkar established the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. On 15 March 2019, Ambedkar asserted that the Election Commission of India has announced the list of registered parties in India, and "Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi" has been recognized as a registered political party, moreover Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, a political party shall be dissolved into Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi as said by Prakash Ambedkar.[4] On 28 September 2018, the first session of the VBA was held at Solapur and resulted in agreement from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to form a coalition. The Coalition Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is going to contest for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections 2019 in the state Maharashtra.[5] Ambedkar subsequently organised public gatherings throughout Maharashtra under the VBA banner. In the beginning, in order to organize the masses efforts were made by organizing conferences in the name of farmers, workers, youths and reservations and organised various conventions and conventions at district levels were also organised.[6]

On 23 February 2019 at Shivaji Park in Mumbai an OBC Reservation Conference was held. This conferences was presided by Rajaram Patil, the leader of Agri-Koli community in the presence of Ambedkar and Owaisi. In this conference, questions of OBC rights were discussed. Furthermore in Mumbai there are 200 villages in Agri, Koli, Bhandari, East Indians tribal for which the government should distribute the property cards, to entitle them with the right to self development, in the same manner the development of slums should be done as per village site law. The people received huge response in the meeting at Shivaji Park, Mumbai. The meetings held by these alliances have received great response so far.[7] Adequate efforts were also made to get Ambedkar along with Indian National Congress-Nationalist Congress Party for the anti-Bhartiya Janata Party agitation. In order to give representation for the deprived communities such as Muslim, Dhangar, Koli, Nomadic tribes OBC and smaller OBC communities, VBA demanded 12 seats (2 seats for each community) to the Indian National Congress. Though Congress was reluctant to share seats and hence Congress didn't take any cognizance of VBA's demands. Therefore, VBA joined AIMIM. As a result of this coalition between VBA and AIMIM, Congress offered 4 seats to the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.[8] "We had proposed 12 seats initially before Congress, but the proposal did not get any positive response. [There] now there is talk of 22 seats, but that has also been revoked," said Prakash Ambedkar. Thereafter VBA took a rigid stand to contest all 48 seats in the state Maharashtra.[9]

In July 2019, Laxman Mane split from the VBA and formed new party, the Maharashtra Bahujan Vanchit Aghadi.[10][11]

The party had an alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen until 6 September 2019 when the alliance broke due to differences on seat distribution in the 2019 State Elections in Maharashtra.[12] Prakash Ambedkar is the VBA leader.[13]

The Election Commission of India had given election symbol "Gas cylinder" to the VBA candidates for the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election.[14][15] VBA contested 234 of the 288 seats in 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election but won none.[16] The VBA also supported 23 other non-VBA candidates. The VBA is the party which contested the second highest number of seats in the election, after the Bahujan Samaj Party (262 seats contested). According to the figures released by the Election Commission of India, in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections held in 2019, VBA candidates had got more than 24 lakh votes (4.6%).[17] The VBA came the second in 10 constituencies and came third in many more.[18][19][20][21]

On 8 November 2019, the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha merged into the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.[22]

Candidature

In March 2019, VBA declared its first list of 37 candidates along with their caste or religions being mentioned.[23] The candidates of VBA have been selected from different politically deprived communities such as Dhangar, Kunbi, Bhil, Buddhist, Koli, Vadar, Lohar, Varli, Banjara, Muslim, Mali, Kaikadi, Dhivar, Matang, Agri, Shimpi, Lingayat, and Maratha.[24] Ambedkar said the caste of the candidates had been given because no other political party does so and it was essential to highlight that these people were, in his opinion, kept out of politics by competing parties because of issues relating to caste.[25][26][27] Out of the 48 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra, AIMIM is contesting in one seat of Aurangabad and the VBA candidate for the remaining 47 seats.[28] The Election Commission of India has given election symbol "Teacup" (Cup Bashi) to most of the VBA candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Prakash Ambedkar, the party leader has been an MP twice from the Akola Loksabha constituency before losing his seat in the 2019 elections.[29][30][31]

In the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the sole candidate of AIMIM Imtiyaz Jaleel won while no candidate from VBA could win the polls. In the 17 constituencies of the state, the candidates of the VBA got more than 80,000 votes. According to the figures released by the Election Commission of India, in the Lok Sabha elections held in Maharashtra in 2019, VBA and AIMIM candidates had got 4,132,242 (7.64%) votes. 47 candidates standing on the VBA ticket received 37,43,200 votes, it was 6.92% of the total votes in Maharashtra and VBA had 7.08% votes of the 47 constituencies contested (excluding Aurangabad). In all the 48 constituencies in Maharashtra, 54,054,245 voters were polled, out of which 1,198,221 voters were polled in the Aurangabad constituency. VBA supported AIMIM was the first place in a Lok Sabha constituency in Aurangabad for getting more votes, whereas VBA was the second in the Akola constituency and VBA was in the third place in 41 constituencies.[32][33]

Electoral performance

Lok Sabha Elections
Lok Sabha Term Indian
General Election		 Seats
contested		 Seats
won		 Votes Polled % of
votes		 % of votes in
seats contested		 State (seats)
17th Lok Sabha 2019 47 0 37,43,200 6.92 7.08 Maharashtra (0)

Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha
Vidhan Sabha Term Maharashtra
General Election		 Seats
contested		 Seats
won		 Votes polled % of

votes

 % of votes
in seats
contested
14th Vidhan Sabha 2019 234 0 24,00,000+ 4.6%

Manifesto

On 6 April 2019, the VBA said that the preamble of the Constitution of India is its manifesto. This declaration has focused on 27 different issues. These announcements have been given to 'KG to PG free education', bring Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to the framework of the Indian Constitution, the status of independent religion to the Lingayatism and various schemes for the farmers.[34][35][36]

See also

References
  1. Farooquee, Neyaz. "Asaduddin Owaisi's Dalit outreach and the relevance of Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi". The Caravan. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  2. Chari, Mridula. "Maharashtra: Some say Prakash Ambedkar is BJP's 'B Team' – but marginalised groups back him strongly". Scroll.in. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. अकोला, उमेश अलोणे, एबीपी माझा (14 March 2019). "भारिप बहुजन महासंघ वंचित आघाडीत विलीन करणार, प्रकाश आंबेडकरांची घोषणा". abpmajha.abplive.in (in Marathi). Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  4. "आता आंबेडकरांची वंचित बहुजन आघाडी". Maharashtra Times (in Marathi). 20 June 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  5. "महाराष्ट्र: प्रकाश अंबेडकर और ओवैसी का गठबंधन, कांग्रेस का नुकसान?". Quint Hindi. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  6. "प्रकाश आंबेडकरांचे शनिवारी मुंबईत शक्तिप्रदर्शन". Loksatta (in Marathi). 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  7. "शिवाजी पार्कवर प्रकाश आंबेडकरांची सभा, उमेदवारांची घोषणा करणार?". News18 Lokmat. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  8. "वंचित बहुजन आघाडीला चार जागा". Loksatta (in Marathi). 4 March 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  9. "लोकसभा चुनाव 2019: प्रकाश आंबेडकर बोले- महाराष्ट्र में कांग्रेस के साथ नहीं करेंगे गठबंधन– News18 हिंदी". News18 India. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  10. "VBA has been hijacked by BJP-RSS: Laxman Mane". 28 July 2019.
  11. "Laxman Mane quits Ambedkar-led VBA to launch own party before Maharashtra polls | Pune News - Times of India".
  12. "No Alliance With Prakash Ambedkar's Party, Says Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM". NDTV.com.
  13. "Elections 2019 | The Big Players in Maharashtra". The Wire. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  14. "EC allots gas cylinder as election symbol to VBA". 14 August 2019.
  15. Deshpande, Alok (15 October 2019). "BSP throws most hats into the ring". The Hindu.
  16. "अतिउत्साही नेतृत्वाला लगाम, संयमींना दाद; कायम लढण्याची जिद्द बाळगणारे शरद पवार, संयमी बाळासाहेब थाेरात, प्रकाश आंबेडकर, ओवेसी, राज ठाकरे यांच्या कामगिरीचा लेखाजाेखा".
  17. "वंचित, एमआयएम, सपा अपवाद वगळता प्रमुख राजकीय पक्षांच्या मतांमध्ये यंदा झाली घट". 31 October 2019.
  18. "VBA Dents Cong-NCP in 25 Seats Where BJP-Sena Ended up Winning". 25 October 2019.
  19. "Election Commission of India".
  20. "महाराष्ट्र निवडणूक 2019: वंचित, एमआयएमने पाडल्या आघाडीच्या एवढ्या जागा; युतीला बहुमतच मिळाले नसते". 25 October 2019.
  21. "वंचित बहुजन आघाडीनं विधानसभा निवडणुकीत काय केलं?". BBC News मराठी. 27 October 2019.
  22. "अखेर भारिप-बमसं 'वंचित'मध्ये विलीन!". 9 November 2019.
  23. "Lok Sabha elections: Prakash Ambedkar names 37, gives candidate caste". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  24. Mahale, Ajeet (29 March 2019). "'We have given smaller OBCs a face, value,' says Prakash Ambedkar". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  25. "प्रकाश आंबेडकरांच्या बहुजन वंचित आघाडीचे 37 उमेदवार जाहीर". 15 March 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  26. "लढाई जातीअंतासाठी आहे तर उमेदवारांच्या नावासमोर जात कशासाठी?". BBC News मराठी. 15 March 2019.
  27. "Decision 2019: Meet the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi woman candidates in the fray". The Indian Express. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  28. "महाराष्ट्र में BJP-शिवसेना के लिए कितनी गंभीर है अंबेडकर-ओवैसी की चुनौती?". India TV Hindi. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  29. author/lokmat-news-network (9 April 2019). "वंचित बहुजन आघाडीच्या प्रचारात काका-पुतणे दंग". Lokmat. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  30. Deshpande, Alok (17 April 2019). "Political heavyweights face acid test in Maharashtra". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  31. "Ahead of Maharashtra assembly polls, AIMIM breaks alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi | Mumbai News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  32. कदम, अमृता (24 May 2019). "या 7 मतदारसंघात वंचित बहुजन आघाडीमुळे झाला काँग्रेसचा पराभव?". BBC News मराठी – via www.bbc.com.
  33. "General Election 2019 - Election Commission of India". results.eci.gov.in.
  34. "LokSabha2019 : केजी टू पीजी शिक्षण मोफत वंचित बहुजन आघाडीचे आश्‍वासन ; जाहीरनामा प्रसिद्ध | eSakal".
  35. author/online-lokmat (6 April 2019). "संविधानाचा सरनामा हाच आमचा जाहीरनामा : वंचित बहुजन आघाडी". Lokmat. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  36. "Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi releases Lok Sabha 2019 manifesto". Maharashtra Today. 7 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.