Aurangabad: Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar, who visited the city on Monday, expressed the intent of his party to contest the Lok Sabha and assembly elections under the banner of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).The outfit also declared Ambedkar as its CM candidate. “The political outfit is open to ally with Congress and other left parties,” Ambedkar said in a press conference.Grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar, who is on a state-wide district-level tour to gather support for his new political banner, has so far visited Kolhapur, Satara, Osamanabad, Solapur and Aurangabad.He said that the response from the youth of the backward and neglected sections of the society has been impressive. “Only public meetings held by us have stirred a storm in the political circles. The candidates pitched by the parties in the recent elections have showed that the parties fear our movement against nepotism in politics,” Ambedkar said.“We have openly pitched our alliance offer to the Congress Party. We have asked them for 12 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state. If it does not agree, we will launch candidates on all 48 seats, but we are open for alliance with all secular parties,” he said.Former MLA Laxman Mane said the members of several sections of the society, including factory workers, porters and farm labourers, do not have the representation in the parliament so far.“If the JDS can make their candidate chief minister of Karnataka, then gathering 70-80 seats is not difficult for us and we can definitely claim the CM seat,” Mane said.He added that the political outfit will in no scenario tie up with the BJP.Speaking on the Koregaon Bhima riots, Ambedkar said that Sambhaji Bhide was given the contract to orchestrate riots by the RSS and his part condemns the act.

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