Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi
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| Abbreviation | VBA |
| President | Prakash Ambedkar |
| Founder | Prakash Ambedkar |
| Founded | 1 January 2018 |
| Merger of | Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (2019) |
| Headquarters | First Floor, Thackersey House, Ballard Estate, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001 |
| Newspaper | Prabuddha Bharat |
| Ideology | Ambedkarism Social equality Constitutionalism Secularism Socialism Progressivism |
| Colours | Blue Yellow Green Orange |
| ECI Status | Registered Party |
| Alliance | AIMIM+ (2019) |
| Seats in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
00 / 288
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| Seats in Akola Zilla Parishad |
28 / 53
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| Election symbol | |
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The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (which means Deprived Majority Front) is a political party in India. It is often called VBA for short. Prakash Ambedkar started this party on March 20, 2018. The VBA mainly works in the state of Maharashtra in India. The party follows ideas from Phule and Ambedkar, which focus on fairness and equality for all people.
Contents
How the VBA Started
The name "Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi" was first used on January 1, 2018. This happened at a big meeting of the Dhangar community in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. Prakash Ambedkar led this meeting. About 100 smaller political groups and social organizations joined this event.
In June 2018, these groups decided to form a new political party called the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi. Prakash Ambedkar, Laxman Mane, Haridas Bhade, and Vijay More were part of this decision. Ambedkar explained that the VBA would include many progressive groups. He said he would lead this new political front.
On May 20, 2018, Ambedkar officially created the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi. The Election Commission of India recognized it as a registered political party. Later, on September 28, 2018, the VBA held its first big meeting in Solapur. There, they agreed to work with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). This partnership, called a coalition, planned to run in the upcoming elections in Maharashtra.
Working for People's Rights
The VBA and its partners held many public meetings across Maharashtra. They wanted to bring people together. These meetings focused on issues important to farmers, workers, and young people. They also discussed fair opportunities for different groups.
On February 23, 2019, a special meeting was held in Shivaji Park in Mumbai. This meeting was about reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBC). Rajaram Patil, a leader from the Agri-Koli community, led the meeting. Ambedkar and Owaisi were also there. They talked about the rights of OBC communities. They also discussed giving property rights to people in 200 villages in Mumbai.
The VBA tried to form an alliance with the Indian National Congress and Nationalist Congress Party. This was to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party. The VBA asked for 12 seats in the election for groups like Muslims, Dhangars, Kolis, and other smaller communities. However, the Congress party only offered four seats. Because of this, the VBA decided to run for all 48 seats in Maharashtra on its own.
In July 2019, Laxman Mane left the VBA. He then started his own party called the Maharashtra Bahujan Vanchit Aaghadi.
Elections and Results
The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi has taken part in several important elections in India.
2019 National Elections
In March 2019, the VBA announced its first list of 37 candidates for the national elections. They even mentioned the caste or religion of each candidate. Ambedkar said this was to show that many groups were not usually involved in politics.
The AIMIM party ran for one seat in Aurangabad. The VBA candidates ran for the other 47 seats in Maharashtra. The Election Commission of India gave the "Teacup" symbol to most VBA candidates for these elections. Prakash Ambedkar, the party leader, had been an MP (Member of Parliament) twice before. However, he lost his seat in the 2019 elections.
In the 2019 national elections, the AIMIM candidate Imtiyaz Jaleel won his seat. No candidate from the VBA won. However, VBA candidates received many votes. In 17 areas, they got over 80,000 votes. Overall, the VBA and AIMIM together received about 4.1 million votes in Maharashtra. This was about 7.64% of all votes.
2019 Maharashtra State Elections
The VBA and AIMIM alliance ended before the 2019 state elections in Maharashtra. This happened because they could not agree on how many seats each party would contest. AIMIM wanted to run for 100 seats, but Prakash Ambedkar only offered them eight.
For the 2019 Maharashtra State Assembly election, the Election Commission of India gave the "Gas cylinder" symbol to VBA candidates. The VBA ran for 234 out of 288 seats but did not win any. They also supported 23 other candidates. The VBA ran for the second-highest number of seats in this election. The party received over 2.4 million votes, which was about 4.6% of all votes. The VBA came in second place in 10 areas.
On November 8, 2019, the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha party joined with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.
Recent Elections (2024)
In the 2024 Indian general election in Maharashtra, 38 candidates from the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi ran for seats. None of them won. The VBA candidates received about 1.5 million votes, which was 3.6% of the total votes.
For the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, 200 VBA candidates ran for seats. Again, none of them won. About half of these candidates were Buddhists. The VBA candidates received about 1.4 million votes, which was 2.21% of the total votes.
Party Goals and Ideas
On April 6, 2019, the VBA announced that its main goals are based on the Preamble of the Constitution of India. This means they believe in justice, liberty, equality, and brotherhood for everyone.
The party has focused on 27 different issues. Some of their ideas include:
- Making education free for everyone, from kindergarten to college.
- Ensuring that groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh follow the rules of the Indian Constitution.
- Giving the Lingayat faith the status of an independent religion.
- Creating various plans to help farmers.
See also
- Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh
- Politics of India
- List of political parties in India
- Politics of Maharashtra
