Anjali Maydeo may not want an official post in her husband Prakash Ambedkar’s Bharatiya Republican Paksha (Bharipa) – Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM), but this retired professor from Pune has made a head start in carving out a campaign for the party that has struck an alliance with several smaller outfits including All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. The alliance plans to contest the Lok Sabha elections from 48 seats of the state under the banner of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Advertising A prominent social activist in Pune, Maydeo, along with others, has been instrumental in developing the state women’s wing of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and is now camping at Akola, preparing a cadre of motivated young men and women and setting up booth committees. “What I am trying to do is contribute without being an office-bearer in the party. I am a teacher and my role is to build the party cadre, hone skills of young men and women who have clarity of vision, are gender-sensitive and can take a stand when there is injustice. Our work has started from December and the Mahila Aghadi is now set up across 10 districts including Akola, Washim, Buldhana, Pune, Mumbai and others,” Maydeo told The Indian Express. Prakash Ambedkar — grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar — was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and is planning to contest the general elections from Akola. Ambedkar, a known champion of Dalit rights and BBM leader, continues to be a powerful voice of the marginalised communities and the new third front, ‘Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’, set up last year has seen strong support from various organisations. According to Maydeo, there has also been a popular demand for Ambedkar to contest from two to three other constituencies. “Our aim in this election is to establish the party across Maharashtra and our party will give tough competition in at least six to seven seats. The tie-up with AIMIM will help in southern Maharashtra, in cities like Nanded, Parbhani, Nashik, Malegaon, Bhiwandi and Kalyan, where the party has a considerable presence,” said Maydeo, who is also the founder-member of Nari Samata Manch. “We have been studying in detail what messages have to be sent out for a specific audience. The party is now understanding voter segmentation and instead of giving ideological talks, we are literally spelling out several issues in simple terms, for instance what the Union budget means for the lower middle-class sections and others,” said Maydeo. “The emphasis is on personal contact with voters, corner meetings and building up the cadre of booth committees. The agenda is simple, of wanting a fair share in power and wealth of nation, bringing quality education, making it affordable. Education is the only tool that can break caste and class barriers,” she said. BBM’s senior members Rekha Thakur, Arundhati Shirsat and Dr Nisha Shinde and others have also taken a lead role and are holding rallies, inviting applications from women and understanding their views. “We have been talking to people about national and local issues and several have clicked with women — for instance the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl from Kathua and how BJP MLAs allegedly tried to stop FIRs in this connection,” said Maydeo. “Unfortunately, when Congress and BJP were in power, they played with democracy and freedom of expression. While Congress had officially declared an Emergency, an undeclared one persists today. We have been speaking about this fear factor and how the democratic fabric of society is being eroded across various platforms,” Maydeo said and pointed out that this was being strongly felt by Dalits and Muslims, who contribute to three lakh votes in practically each constituency of Maharashtra. Advertising While public rallies have generated some tempo at Kolhapur and Malegaon, and another has been planned in Mumbai, the focus is on building the party machinery for the election, activating a social media campaign and training booth committees.

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