Maharashtra Assembly elections: ‘VBA focusing on giving voice to youth with no family ties to politics,’ says Anjali Maydeo Ambedkar

Q: What is the VBA’s strategy for the November 20 Assembly elections?

Anjali: Our strategy has ever been simple: springiness powerfulness successful the signifier of practice to the disadvantaged oregon marginalised sections (Vanchits) and relationship for the transferability of votes from 1 radical to another. Although this is simply a enactment argumentation alternatively than a governmental strategy, it volition construe into occurrence arsenic we spot dense caste polarisation, with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) being a precise Maratha-dominant radical connected 1 side…the candidates’ database besides suggests the same…and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) fearing that they volition suffer their preservation with the Jarange Patil agitation connected the different side. Jarange-Patil has withdrawn truthful it appears to beryllium a Maratha-dominant caste polarisation.

Q: What are the issues that the VBA volition absorption on?

Anjali: Protecting preservation policy, practice for marginalised successful each locomotion of life, sustaining Ambedkarite and enactment politics, promoting prime schoolhouse and higher education, and creating much opportunities for younker from Vanchit communities for economical improvement done nationalist assemblage jobs and entrepreneurship. This volition beryllium done by providing method know-how and recognition facilities. My idiosyncratic docket done VBA volition ever beryllium a escaped and harmless nationalist abstraction for women and girls.

Q: Who are the ‘unusual’ and ‘highly qualified’ candidates?

Anjali: Shameebha Tai Patil, a well-known LGBTQA activistic and a pupil of Marathi lit isolated from being a visiting module astatine TISS, is contesting from Raver successful Jalgaon district. We person besides fixed opportunities to respective young candidates who are highly qualified and committed to the Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar philosophy. These see advocator Afroz Mulla, a lawyer practising successful the Bombay High Court, Swapnil Jawalgekar, Snehal Sohoni, Amol Nikalje from Mumbai, Vidnyan Mane from Miraj, to sanction a few. There are others specified arsenic Dr Kranti Sawant, a gynaecologist contesting from Hatkanagale, Kolhapur; Dr Rutuja Chavan, a gynaecologist from Mehkar, Buldhana; Prashant Gole, a PhD holder successful biotechnology etc.

Q: The Opposition refers to the VBA arsenic BJP’s ‘B team’. Please remark connected which Assembly seats are acceptable to look cardinal contests.

Anjali: What is new? The MVA has acceptable a communicative of the VBA being the ‘B team’ of the BJP. Whenever we did not person an confederation with the Congress, VBA has been accused of being pro-BJP. However, present we are asking our workers to airs circumstantial questions to the Congress. For instance, wherefore did they tract Chaudhary Lal Singh, who had held a rally successful enactment of the accused successful the Kathua rape case, for the J-K Assembly polls? How is it that nary of the progressive factions are protesting the MVA’s contradictory stand?

Mahayuti is force fig 1. We person been warring them for a agelong time. What we are warring for is simply a abstraction for practice – particularly arsenic the different enactment lists see 200+ Maratha candidates successful the fray. As for cardinal contests, determination are 30 seats wherever we expect a bully performance, including Akola, Washim, Hingoli, Parbhani, Nanded, Buldhana, Latur, Aurangabad, and a fewer constituencies successful northbound and westbound Maharashtra.