Akola: Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, took a break from his campaign in Akola, Vidarbha, to speak to HT about the opposition and ruling alliances in Maharashta, the INDIA bloc alliance and the fear in the minds of people about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) ambition to change the Constitution of India if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is voted to power.
How do you view BJP’s ‘400-plus’ ambition and the opposition alleging that the party wants to change the Constitution with this massive majority?
Of course; the motive behind the ‘400-plus’ target set by BJP and PM Narendra Modi is to change the Constitution of India. RSS – the parent organisation of BJP – and the PM have an ideological conflict with democracy. It does not suit their mindsets and working style. RSS believes in the hegemony of caste and the Constitution of India is an obstacle in its path. On other hand, the organisation’s mindset of hegemony suits PM Modi who has an autocratic style of functioning.
As RSS and BJP are unsure about the victory in 2029, they will change the Constitution of India if they come to power in 2024 and bring the single party regime culture like China to avert any threat in 2029.
But PM Modi and union home minister Amit Shah have refuted the allegation and assured that the Constitution would not be changed.
I don’t believe PM Modi. He has repeatedly made false promises in his 10 years as PM. How can I believe the commitment of the person who did not stay committed to his wife? He will definitely scrap the Constitution written by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and will bring a system which will ensure their single party rule.
There will be no more reservations in government jobs. Parakala Prabhakar, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s husband, has exposed the agenda of Modi-BJP and RSS about their intent on the Constitution. This has led to Modi and BJP leaders offering clarifications now.
Do you see any on-ground changes now, compared to 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
The biggest change in the political atmosphere of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is an absence of ‘Modi factor’ at work. Unlike the past two elections, PM Modi has lost his appeal. People no longer believe him, thanks to his government’s many failures. It has failed on the security and foreign policy front. China has created challenges from Ladakh to Arunachal. Even small countries like Maldives have refused to cooperate with India by denying permission to Indian security forces in their areas.
The Modi government failed to generate employment, and after 10 years it has become a dominant problem in both urban and rural areas; an even more serious problem is that people lost their steady jobs due to various challenges in the economy. Farmers are also not getting good returns for their produce.
Over and above this, two factors have created unrest among people – the government’s rampant misuse of investigation agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the PM’s favouritism to the state of Gujarat.
On other hand, Congress has failed to become a major opposition party. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are actually Modi vs masses. People have taken the elections in their hands. My assessment says, BJP will not get more than 170 seats this time.
Your brand of politics has also been questioned – it is alleged you are working as the B-Team of BJP with the intent of spoiling the chances of BJP’s defeat by dividing opposition’s votes. If you think Modi government has failed on so many counts, why did you not join the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to unitedly fight BJP?
The allegations are baseless. I was ready for an alliance with MVA. I even attended the INDIA block rally at Shivaji Park. But MVA offered me only two seats. How can I accept it? In fact, I have strong reasons to believe some leaders in Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are working for BJP. Look at the weak candidates MVA has fielded in constituencies like Kalyan, Ramtek, Nashik, Bhiwandi, Buldhana and a few others. When I declared support to Congress candidate Vikas Thakare in Nagpur, state Congress president Nana Patole’s reaction was self-explanatory – he seemed more worried about BJP candidate Nitin Gadkari’s victory. They have alleged that because of VBA Congress-NCP candidates lost around nine seats in 2019. My contention is, because of their candidates VBA lost around 12 seats.
During the talks of alliance I repeatedly pointed out that MVA has not sorted internal differences over seat sharing – now see the tussle over Sangli and Mumbai seats.
How will the present state of affairs in Maharashtra politics impact results?
There is a big difference in the 2019 and 2024 scenarios. After the break-up of Shiv Sena and NCP, ground realities have changed both for BJP and the two Sena factions.
BJP is struggling for support in rural Maharashtra and Mumbai. Chief minister Eknath Shinde is struggling to find candidates who would help retain seats. The situation is almost similar in the two NCP factions as well. On the other hand, BJP’s top most leader, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, has lost his influence. Two major communities in the state — Marathas and OBCs – are unhappy with him, because of the recent conflicts between them.
So, Fadnavis campaigning across Maharashtra will benefit the opposition. In this background VBA has a scope to garner Maratha votes, given my good association with Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil. This equation will change results in some constituencies.
How do you view Rahul Gandhi and the Bharat Jodo Yatra?
He has improved since 2014 but needs to work on his speech writers – they infuse statements in his speeches that kick up controversies. During the INDIA bloc rally in Mumbai, the words ‘shakti’ and ‘Hindu religion’ were used in a wrong way, which impacted his yatra. On the other hand, regional parties saw Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as a threat, leading some exiting the INDIA alliance. They saw it as an exercise of expansion of Congress.
You have been struggling to win a single seat since 2004 in Lok Sabha elections. Are you optimistic this time?
I have not lost my voters base in the last 20 years. I could not win because of the division of votes. In the last two elections in Akola, Congress fielded Muslim candidates and we managed around equal vote share due to division of Muslim and small OBC caste votes. This time Congress has fielded a Maratha candidate Dr Abhay Patil from Akola, so the Muslims and small OBC castes will definitely vote for me.
You have predicted a hung parliament — so will Maharashtra see another Ambedkar in the union cabinet in 2024 central government after around seven decades?
Honestly speaking, I would like to work as a parliamentarian only. The framework around cabinet ministers does not suit my working style. I would rather give that opportunity to colleagues in my party. I will accept the cabinet minister’s post in the union government only if the situation demands.