VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar says it is up to Uddhav to finalize alliance, rules out going with Shinde faction

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar said it was now for Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray to finalize an alliance with his party.

He also denied that the VBA could form a tie-up with the rival Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Sena, saying that he would not join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies.

Earlier in the day, Ambedkar met Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde amid speculation about a possible tie-up between the VBA and the Shinde faction. The CM's faction of the Sena has already announced an alliance with Dalit leader Jogendra Kawade's People's Republican Party.

The situation is fluid. It is such that the party we want to go with, the Shiv Sena. We proposed to them that we will hold a joint press conference and declare that talks are on. Now, it is the Shiv Sena that has to decide when it wants to declare that. As long as talks are on, speculation will continue, Ambedkar told reporters.

It is in Uddhav Thackeray's hands, when to finalise. The Congress and NCP made mincemeat of our party. We too could have made mincemeat of Congress and NCP as I know my party's strength, Ambedkar said.

Even if the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) wanted a front of opposition parties with the VBA, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party may not agree, he said.