Mumbai:NCP President Sharad Pawar and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founder Prakash Ambedkar clarified that they did not discuss politics in their meet over coffee after reports of further expansion of the I.N.D.I.A bloc began to circulate.
Ambekar had been to a function – ‘Unleashing India’s Economic Potential: Dr Ambedkar’s Legacy Lives’ at theYashwantrao Chavan Centre,where Pawar and his daughter and NCP National Working President Supriya Sule, Congress MP and journalist Kumar Ketkar were also present.
At the request of Sule, Ambedkar later went to the office of Pawar in the same complex and had coffee.
“No politics was discussed at the meeting,” Pawar told reporters in Pune.
“There were 15 more people in the room…politics was not discussed,” Ambedkar told reporters in Mumbai.
However, on the issue of I.N.D.I.A opposition bloc vis-a-vis his alliance with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), he said: “…look, we have an alliance….tomorrow assume if the I.N.D.I.A alliance wants Shiv Sena (UBT) to break the alliance, we have to be prepared…we may have to contest all seats after the alliance does not take place.”
It must be noted that VBA’s leadership was annoyed when they were not invited for the meeting of I.N.D.I.A in Mumbai and the party has shot off letters to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
However, reacting to the meeting, veteran Congressman and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had said: “I came to know about the meeting through TV channels. It is definitely a good sign. I welcome it. Two big leaders have met together. Though no politics was discussed, it is a positive signal…If an alliance takes place, it would surely send good signals in Maharashtra and there would be an impact in the elections…we have started preparations looking at worst-cum-worst situation.”
Asked about Chavan’s reaction, Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar said: “My father (late Yashwant Ambedkar) and Chavan’s father (late Shankarrao Chavan) enjoyed very good friendship…we enjoy personal relations still even though we have fought against each other….in fact, the (alliance with I.N.D.I.A) is not in the hands of Chavan.”
(Published 22 October 2023, 10:58 IST)