Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Monday released the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Ambedkar said that if he wins power, his party will take a strategic decision of not retiring contractual employees up to the age of 58 and pass a law on minimum selling price for farmers, PTI reported.
Ambedkar also claimed that while the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is considered an anti-Muslim law, it is also against the 20 per cent Hindu community. By enacting the law, the BJP is misleading the country’s Hindu voters, he claimed.
According to the PTI report, the VBA chief said, “If the VBA comes to power, it will take a strategic decision not to retire contractual employees up to the age of 58 and will enact a law on minimum selling price for farmers. “The party will ensure free education from kindergarten to PG classes and spend 9 per cent of funds on education,” he added.
While interacting with the media, Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr BR Ambedkar, also criticized Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, for his claim that the VBA should have allied with Maha Vikas Aghadi in the interest of the nation and its moving to contest alone will only benefit the BJP.
“Mahatma Gandhi, who fought for the backward classes, took on the upper caste, and the VBA is also doing the same. Tushar Gandhi should support the VBA instead of criticizing the party,” Prakash Ambedkar said.
The VBA has fielded 14 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Ambedkar himself belongs to Akola constituency in Vidharbha region, from where he was earlier elected.
After seat-sharing talks with Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra failed, the VBA decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone.
(With PTI inputs)