ShivShakti meets BhimShakti as political alignments change in Maharashtra

Political alignments in Maharashtra that had fallen into disrepair are being revived by Uddhav Thackeray and Prakash Ambedkar. Dhaval Kulkarni investigates the prospects - and the problems

This looked like just another event: Where a portal on the works of “Prabodhankar” Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, among the foremost social reformers of Maharashtra, was re-launched.

But the optics and political messaging went much deeper. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) President Uddhav Thackeray and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar shared the stage at this programme on June 20. This has stirred the already turbid waters in the state, considering the possibility of a new political coalition that may arise out of this outreach between the two.

Ambedkar is a former Lok Sabha MP and the grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar, who,