The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) contested the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra alone after negotiations with the INDIA bloc failed. With the elections for 48 Lok Sabha seats of the state drawing to close, its president Prakash Ambedkar reflects on his party’s performance in an interview with The Indian Express, asserting that regional parties fought Prime Minister Narendra Modi with greater zeal. Excerpts: What is your take on the polls in Maharashtra? I believe there was a close contest in all the 48 seats. Whichever alliance – the NDA or Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – wins, the margins will be very narrow, unlike past elections where candidates won by a huge margin. How do you think the VBA has fared? Our assessment suggests we are winning three of the 38 seats we contested. Our vote percentage will increase from the 6.75% we secured in 2019. Can you single out one difference in these polls compared to previous ones? Modi turned these polls into gram panchayat polls as the campaigns were vitriolic. There were personal attacks and the language used by the PM was disgusting. He brought down the stature of the PM’s post. The polls also exposed how vulnerable Central agencies are and how they have become tools of the ruling government. But PMs have campaigned for their parties in the past too? Yes, every PM has campaigned. Previously, PMs only campaigned in Lok Sabha polls and just made their presence felt in Assembly polls with a couple of rallies. In Modi’s case, he campaigned in almost every Lok Sabha constituency. He does the same in Assembly as well as local body polls. He has turned every poll into a gram panchayat election. Will that not help the BJP? I think the BJP will see losses in the Lok Sabha polls while regional parties across the country will perform better. The Congress, which had hit rock bottom (in 2019) will only gain. It will not be right to predict numbers as two more phases of voting remain. The BJP’s ‘400 paar’ mission will be severely dented. What is your take on the INDIA bloc campaign being focused on democracy and the Constitution? The INDIA bloc raised pertinent issues, but I feel the Congress could have adopted a sharper campaign strategy. For example, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s letter to Modi explaining the party’s position on Muslims (regarding distribution of assets). Where was the need to officially give an explanation? The Congress should have used the BJP’s attacks to expose the BJP and Modi’s anti-Dalit, anti-Muslim and anti-poor face. That seemed to be lacking. Did the ‘threat to Constitution’ plank have an impact on the Dalits? Definitely. There was huge unrest among the community members which saw consolidation of votes against the BJP. This was evident across Maharashtra and in other states too. Dalits will not back the BJP again. They have had apprehension about the RSS ideology and its idea of Hindu Rashtra. They are also disillusioned with Modi’s development plank. But the BJP banks on the Modi factor across the country. It is a strategic move aimed at covering up failures of the 10-year Modi regime. I have travelled across Maharashtra as well as other states, where I saw the youths angry over unemployment and questioning electoral bonds. Small-scale investors and industries are agitated over the Goods and Service Tax (GST), while inflation is an issue across states. Has polarisation on caste and religious lines impacted the Opposition’s chances? There was complete Maratha versus OBC polarisation in Maharashtra and that has impacted the BJP in some parts. A communal campaign was launched by the BJP where Modi spoke about mangalsutra and assets being taken away to be handed over to the minorities. All decency which one expects from the PM was eroded. Modi crossed the ‘Laxman Rekha’.
