VBA chief calls for Maha Bandh on January 24

MUMBAI: Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Thursday announced a Maharashtra Bandh on January 24, to protest against the economic policies of the Narendra Modi-led Central government.

Ambedkar said the aim of the bandh was to expose the government for its mishandling of the economy, which he warned was headed towards bankruptcy.

“We are witnessing a huge deficit in collections in this financial year and it will be difficult for Modi to run the government with such decreased collections. This will only worsen joblessness, forcing many establishments to close down,” said Ambedkar.

Ambedkar also appealed to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to support the lockdown.

“Uddhav Thackeray has always criticized the Centre’s economic policies and hence, now he should instruct his party members to participate in the bandh,” he said.

The VBA chief said that last year, the government estimated that it would be able to collect ₹27 lakh crore, of which till November, just ₹11 lakh crore has been collected. “It is impossible to collect the remaining ₹16 lakh crore till February 1, which indicates that we are headed towards difficult times,” said Ambedkar.

The BJP denied any such economic crisis in the offing, blaming the critics for misleading the people. “The problem with people like Ambedkar is that they have no issue to attack the government on and hence are raking in non-issues to embarrass the Centre. There may be some worldwide recession, but Indian economy is doing well,” said BJP spokesperson Madhu Chavan.