Ambedkar puts Congress-NCP in a Catch 22

Prakash Ambedkar is likely to meet Congress chief Rahul Gandhi over seat sharing this week. File Pic

The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has caught the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party unawares by demanding the 22 Lok Sabha seats that it has already announced if it were to join the Congress-NCP alliance.

In a meeting held on Tuesday, Aghadi leaders Laxman Mane, Annabhau Patil and Mahesh Rokde told the Congress combine that they could not withdraw candidates in the 22 segments. "We told them to discuss the remaining 26 seats as we have no other choice," Mane told mid-day, adding that the Aghadi wasn't invited to talk earlier, but considering the response, it is getting from the voters, the alliance is now trying to get it in the fold.

"It's an afterthought. We told them that Ambedkar could alone decide this matter," Mane said. State Congress president Ashok Chavan said that no final decision was taken about sharing seats with the Vanchit Aghadi yet.

'Discipline the RSS'
The 22 seats include some winning seats of the Congress and NCP, including Chavan's Nanded, NCP's Madha (Vijaysinh Mohite Patil) where party boss Sharad Pawar would be seen in action this election, and Pawar's home ground Baramati where his daughter Supriya Sule sits as an MP.

Congress and NCP insiders said that the Aghadi's demand for these seats could never be fulfilled. "Not just these three, but other segments in these 22 are Congress and NCP's traditional seats. Ambedkar should get at the most four seats if agreed," said a Congress leader. Ambedkar had earlier asked for at least 12 seats in the alliance, and a submission from the Congress combine that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh be brought under a constitutional ambit and regulated because it is not registered under any Indian law.

The Congress and NCP have agreed to consider the demand on RSS, but asked the Aghadi to suggest a way forward. The Ambedkar group told the Congress-NCP leaders that it was their job to find a legal way to discipline the RSS.

"They asked for forming a joint committee of all of us. We told them it was up to them because they would be in the government as major partners, and not us. We have asked for a commitment in writing from them," said Mane, adding that the will now be settled in a meeting between Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Ambedkar later this week.

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