Prakash Ambedkar's party aims to contest in 26 Lok Sabha seats across Maharashtra.

The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) proposed to contest 26 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha election as the seat-sharing talks in Maha Vikas Aghadi finalise.

The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by Prakash Ambedkar, has concluded its last meeting with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regarding seat allocation for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra. They have proposed contesting 26 out of the total 48 seats in the state.

Leaders of the MVA, including Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar's NCP, and the Congress, have announced that they have finalized the discussions on seat sharing and will soon unveil the agreed-upon formula in a joint statement.

VBA leader Dhairyavardhan Pundkar has expressed readiness to negotiate on the allocation of seats from the proposed 26. He highlighted the party's groundwork in several Lok Sabha constituencies since June-July, when they were not aligned with any alliance.

The VBA has suggested Manoj Jarange Patil, a Maratha quota activist, for the Jalna seat, and Abhijit Vaidya for the Pune Lok Sabha seat as candidates for the MVA. Additionally, the party has demanded the fielding of a minimum of 15 OBC and three minority candidates.

Pundkar also emphasized the party's request for a written assurance that no parties or candidates would join the BJP either before or after the elections.

he MVA has proposed specific seats for the alliance, including Akola, Amravati, Nagpur, and others. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut mentioned that the MVA has finalized the seat distribution formula and expressed a willingness to negotiate with the VBA for a realistic number of seats.

Nana Patole, the Maharashtra Congress chief, expressed hope that the VBA would join the opposition alliance in their collective effort against what they perceive as BJP's authoritarian rule.