Congress took minority votes for granted, cost us seats in Mumbai: VBA leader

Mumbai, Jan 17 (PTI) Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Saturday blamed the Congress for its poor performance in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, accusing it of being complacent about the support base in the Muslim community.

While the Congress' tally declined to 24 in the 227-member BMC, its ally VBA, led by Prakash Ambedkar, drew a blank.

Addressing a press conference, VBA state vice-president Siddharth Mokle said the Congress ignored repeated warnings about minority voters and failed to make efforts to retain Muslim support in the city.

"Congress took minority voters for granted and did not control infighting, which resulted in Vanchit losing seats it was confident of winning," Mokle said.

VBA worked honestly to support Congress candidates but did not receive similar cooperation in return, he alleged.

According to Mokle, VBA had a "100 per cent chance" of winning 15 to 20 seats in Mumbai, but Congress failed to mobilise its own voters in those areas.

Muslim voters, disappointed with Congress, shifted to AIMIM and other parties, hurting the alliance, he added.

In several constituencies Congress workers extended covert support to independent candidates and rival parties, he claimed.

Mokle also raised doubts over the counting process in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, alleging manipulation during the final stages. Four VBA candidates who were leading by around 2,500 votes were declared defeated after a previously shut machine was introduced on technical grounds, he claimed. PTI MR KRK