People’s Republican Party chief Jogendra Kawade on Monday criticised Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar for mentioning castes of the Lok Sabha poll candidates of his Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).
Kawade said this was like betraying B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, who always fought against the caste system.
Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of B. R. Ambedkar, last Friday released a list of 37 Lok Sabha candidates who will contest the upcoming polls under the banner of VBA.
The VBA, a social coalition of Dalits and Muslims jointly formed by Prakash Ambedkar and Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), mentioned the castes of all the candidates who figure in the list.
“Prakash Ambedkar earlier demanded removal of the column to mention castes in school certificates, but he has now advertised the castes of all candidates of VBA and betrayed his grandfather,” Kawade told media in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district.
He said that his party, a splinter faction of the Republican Party of India, was awaiting response from the opposition Congress and NCP over his demand to contest four Lok Sabha seats – Shirdi, Amravati, Ramtek and Ichalkaranji- in the state.
Lok Sabha polls to 48 seats in Maharashtra will be held in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.
