3rd front comes up in Maha, Prakash Ambedkar's VBA allies with RJD, IUML

Mumbai, Dec 13 The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, led by Prakash Ambedkar, on Monday announced a tie-up with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Indian Union Muslim League, creating a third political front, for the upcoming civic elections in Mumbai.

"We have decided to forge an alliance with the RJD and IUML. A few more parties are likely to join in the coming days. Then we shall decide on a seat-sharing formula," said Ambedkar, who is the grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian Constitution.

He said while the campaigning for the elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will start immediately, the seat-sharing formula will be finalised by January 15 after more parties join the alliance.

Under the new avatar, the VBA-RJD-IUML is likely to contest the BMC elections in key areas like Dharavi, Chembur, Sion, Kurla, Govandi, Borivali, Kandivali, Dadar, Jogeshwari, and Matunga.

Currently, there are two major political fronts - the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi with Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress and other friendly parties plus the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies, with the likelihood of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena joining it.

The VBA banner has several sections of Dalits, tribals, Banjaras, Kolis, Dhangars, Agris, Malis, minorities, and other backward communities coming together to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

The two new allies - the RJD led by former Union Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and the IUML led by K.M.K. Mohideen - are major regional political players with a token national presence.

The IUML, a force in Kerala and Tamil Nadu had 4 MPs, while the RJD, a prominent party in Bihar has no MPs currently.

The leaders from the new front believe that the influence of the two parties could be an advantage for the VBA since Mumbai has a significant immigrant population from Bihar, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

Incidentally, the VBA had an alliance with the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, led by Asasuddin Owaisi, during the April-May 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but it collapsed ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections in October that year.

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