Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Wednesday that "there are allegations" that the BJP engineered the alliance between Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar's party.
AIMIM and Ambedkar's Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh announced a tie-up for next year's elections last month.
"There are also allegations that the BJP has stitched up this alliance so that the Congress does not get Dalit and Muslim votes in Maharashtra," Raut told a news channel.
He also said that though Prakash Ambedkar is a grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar, past few elections have shown that Prakash Ambedkar does not command much support among people.
"The experiment of Dalit-Muslim alliance is not new. But this alliance is against the ideals of Babasaheb (Ambedkar). Dalits will not accept such an alliance only for political gains," the Sena MP claimed.
If Ambedkar had ideological differences with the Congress and NCP, he should have allied with the Sena, Raut said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)