Aurangabad, Nov 11:
"Looking at the results of the assembly elections in Bihar, the issue of EVM is once again on the rise. EVM machines have been rejected worldwide. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) has consistently insisted that elections should be held on ballot papers instead of EVMs," said Prakash Ambedkar at a press conference here on Wednesday.
He ruled out the possibility of an alliance with MIM in the upcoming Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections. There was no such alliance in the assembly elections held in Maharashtra and now in Bihar. If it had, the picture would have looked different. Journalists drew Ambedkar''s attention to this issue. Congratulating Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Ambedkar said that he gave a strong competition to BJP and PM Narendra Modi. But missed the opportunity to form a government with few votes. The Congress is equally responsible for this. Ambedkar questioned whether getting elected to 19 seats while competing on 70 seats is like helping the BJP in one sense. When asked how he would stop the BJP and Modi, he said, "It seems that people are not ready to go with the Congress. An alternative must be created at the national level. He objected to Sharad Pawar leading this alternative alliance and favored Tejaswi Yadav for new leadership. He also slammed CM Uddhav Thackeray and Pawar for the closure of places of worship stating that they are not listening to the people. He also reiterated that we strongly oppose giving reservation to the Maratha community through OBCs quota.