VBA releases another list of candidates, fields Vasant More from Pune
The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Tuesday released its another list of candidates ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024, nominating Vasant More from Pune.
The VBA also expressed its support for Supriya Sule of NCP (SP) for the Baramati seat in the fight against Sunetra Pawar of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
Vasant More had recently quit the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and vowed that he would win the Pune Lok Sabha seat at whatever cost. More had reportedly pushed for a Congress ticket for the elections and had also met with NCP founder Sharad Pawar recently.
Check below the complete list of VBA candidates announced on Tuesday
| No. | Constituency | Candidate |
| 1 | Nanded | Avinash Bosikar |
| 2 | Parbhani | Babasaheb Ugale |
| 3 | Aurangabad | Afsar Khan |
| 4 | Pune | Vasant More |
| 5 | Shirur | Mangaldas Bagul |
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is still interested in holding seat-sharing talks with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which has already declared candidates for several Lok Sabha elections 2024, reported the PTI.
Prakash Ambedkar was earlier in talks with the MVA, comprising the Congress, the Nationalist Congress (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Shiv Sena (UBT), for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 but recently announced candidates for 20 out of 48 seats.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed that Prakash Ambedkar`s party stopped talks with the MVA, which had given it a proposal for five seats, including Akola, Ramtek, Dhule and a seat in Mumbai, according to the PTI.
“We were not the one to stop the dialogue with the VBA. On the contrary, we are still keen on holding talks with the party,” he said, the news agency reported.
VBA candidates finished third in many constituencies in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections 2024, in which nominees of the Congress or NCP (undivided) came second, indicating that votes were split in favour of winning candidates, mostly from the BJP and Shiv Sena (undivided).
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader further said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will soon lose his chair, and asserted that the party`s doors were not open to “traitors”, as per the PTI.
(with PTI inputs)
