Prakash Ambedkar for religious status to Lingayats

KOLHAPUR

: Describing the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) as a fascist force, Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi has assured voters of working out a formula so that RSS works within constitutional framework.


The VBA

election manifesto

published last week promises separate religious status for Lingayat community, fresh inquiry into Gujarat riots, introduction of ballot papers and scrapping the criminalisation of triple talaq. A core committee, headed by Marathi writer Laxman Mane, prepared the election manifesto.

The party claimed that the manifesto was drafted with the initiative of Dhangar community and nomadic tribes and participation of Dalits and Neo-Buddhists and support of Muslims. It has defined Vanchit as people who are deprived of human dignity and means of livelihood.

Th e manifesto states that the RSS was intending to build a "nation on the foundation of vedic culture and was writing perverted version of history." "Violence is being used to retain cultural dominance and RSS is destroying multi-cultural identity of the country. Our party respects multi-cultural character of the country and was committed to building Indian nationalism based on the ideology of Dr B R Ambedkar," the manifesto states.

VBA has assured voters that it would scrap criminalisation of triple talaq and enact an anti-discriminatory law to stop violence against Muslim community. "Minorities would be given representation in all development works in proportion to the population," manifesto states.

On election reforms, VBA has said that party would define representation of all deprived classes in proportion to the population. Political parties would be banned from accepting election funds from Indian and foreign companies.

VBA has said that public sector banks would play important role in the economy and they would be run by professionals. "No political interference in the day-to-day activities of the banks and separate monitoring system to check NPAs", VBA has assured. Bank management would be held responsible for all the NPAs, VBA manifesto has said.

Stating that liberal economy has reduced government jobs, VBA has announced that it would introduce reservation in private sector. VBA also plans to chalk out a national policy on reservation for farming communities like Marathas, Jats and Patels. The party has assured that it would work towards a society in which reservation would not be needed.