Mumbai: Currently campaigning in the Solapur district of Maharashtra, Dr Prakash Ambedkar, leader of the newly established political front Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) responded to queries from The Sunday Guardian on whether his political experiment will be successful or not. Excerpts:
Q: The Congress markets it Dalit leaders with various strategic positions both in the party and government. What according to you is the reason that during elections, the Congress is seen bargaining or negotiating with either you or a Ramdas Athawale or a Chandrashekar Azad or Ravan from Uttar Pradesh or Mayawati, just to get Dalit votes and be seen as a Dalit friendly party?
A: That is what you will have to ask the Congress. I can’t answer for them.
Q: But you have been observing them for so many years and because of your new front, they do believe that they their vote bank is threatened.
A: I can’t say.
Q: In the past, Indira Gandhi had successfully wooed Jagjivan Ram as a prominent Dalit to the Congress. Do you think that the shadow of Ambedkar’s perceived unhappiness with Congress is still a major stumbling block for a meeting of minds between the Dalit electorate and the Congress party?
A: See, these are questions that the Congress party would have to answer. I am not a member of the Congress. So I don’t know what is going on within them and in them.
Q: But they have been trying to nurture a Dalit leadership in their party all these years and your experiment has threatened them. You have created your own space with this new alliance.
A: I can’t give my opinion on this.
Q: During Modi’s tenure, we have seen a frosty relationship with the BJP-led NDA government on Dalit issues. Yet, no Dalit MP or minister has resigned or expressed or criticised the Modi-led government. What could be the reason for this in your opinion?
A: That is what you will have to ask the BJP MPs. I can’t be a spokesperson for somebody. I can’t say why nobody has resigned and so-and-so have not done this. That is not my job to do. It is for them to decide.
Q: BJP is largely seen as a Brahmanical Manu Smriti driven party, but yet it has been successful in creating a Dalit and tribal leadership and even wooing a Dalit ideologue like Udit Raj to its fold. Is it the unhappiness of Dalit leaders with the Congress or the double speak of Congress vis-a-vis Dalit empowerment or is it that the new age Dalit leadership feels better to partner with BJP to safeguard its socio-economic and political interest?
A: See you are not asking about me and what I am doing. You are asking me about what other parties are doing and I can’t comment on all those things. That is not my job. I don’t answer these kinds of questions. I just ignore them.
Q: In the new economic scenario, how long do you think Dalit job reservation will remain the main plank of Dalit politics?
A: I think it will remain the main plank.
Q: You saw many Maratha CMs in the state. Then why was it necessary for Marathas to get reservations?
A: You have the wrong notion that Marathas have been empowered. There are some families within the Marathas who are empowered. There are many who are in the same position as others are.
Q: You must be aware that there is a certain section of Dalits within the Dalit votebank who are already empowered—the creamy layer. What is your opinion of them.
A: There has to be a division in this. We have to bring about reservation on the lines where admissions are given from reserved as well as general class.
Q: The fact is that Janta Dal United, Janta Dal secular and many allies of the NDA and UPA have more or less remained confined to their state of origin. Why do you think AIMIM has been able to make a dent in Maharashtra and Mumbai?
A: They have not made a dent in Mumbai and Maharashtra? They have an MLA, but that you can’t call that a dent. They are a growing party.
Q: How would you access the mood of the Muslim electorate considering that Modi still remains a polarising factor along with Yogi and Congress is still hopeful of getting a Muslim vote by default and being in race for grabbing power?
A: Not a single Muslim will vote for BJP this time. Even the BJP spokesperson will also not vote for the BJP.
Q: Do you think that the ghettoization of Dalits in Mumbai is far more acute than in rural Maharashtra?
A: No there is no ghettoization of Dalits, it is a wrong concept. In fact, Dalits have been in dominating positions in Maharashtra.
Q: Will you be campaigning in Mumbai?
A: I will be coming after 18 April to Mumbai and yes, myself and AMIM will be campaigning in Mumbai. We will be doing it together.
Q: Will there be some different campaigning strategy used this time?
A: What we have done is there are all these smaller OBCs. We have got them together and we are deciding how to vote.
Q: Justice B.G. Kolse Patil was unhappy for not getting ticket from Aurangabad and he left. Has his exit affected other party workers?
A: No.
Q: If you witness such similar dissent in the long run, how as a leader are you planning to handle it.
A: These are sporadic incidents and they don’t matter. We don’t attach too much importance to it. In fact, Kolse Patil has lost his face because of his own comments.
Q: It takes a lot of muscle and money power to contest elections. For example, there have been rumours of tickets from prominent parties being sold for certain amount. Contesting elections both in rural and urban areas are an expensive affair. How are you managing the distribution of tickets to candidates in your party?
A: Our decision of giving parliamentary Assembly ticket is based on the district committee who takes the decision and communicates to us who will be the candidate. And then we accept it. The central level committee only interferes if they don’t have a candidate.
Q: Have there been instances where tickets of your party are more in demand now compared to other parties?
A: We don’t sell tickets. We give tickets to our own party workers.
Q: Would you be in favour of expanding this Dalit-Muslim partnership by including other socio-religious segments as well?
A: Yes many others have already joined us. We are in talks with Jains and Christians.
Q: What is the target of seats you are looking to win?
A: It is the Sena-BJP saying that the fight is with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. So we don’t need to quantify.