Mumbai, Jan 12 (PTI) Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Thursday said it was now for Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray to finalize an alliance with his party.

Also Read | Kerala Tiger Attack: Farmer Dies After Being Attacked by Tiger in Wayanad.

He also denied that the VBA could form a tie-up with the rival Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Sena, saying that he would not join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies.

Also Read | Anushka Sharma Moves to Bombay High Court to Challenge Maharashtra State Tax Department Orders.

Earlier in the day, Ambedkar met Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde amid speculation about a possible tie-up between the VBA and the Shinde faction.

The CM's faction of the Sena has already announced an alliance with Dalit leader Jogendra Kawade's People's Republican Party.

“The situation is fluid. It is such that the party we want to go with, the Shiv Sena....We proposed to them that we will hold a joint press conference and declare that talks are on. Now, it is the Shiv Sena that has to decide when it wants to declare that. As long as talks are on, speculation will continue,” Ambedkar told reporters.

The VBA was ready for striking "compromise" with the Shiv Sena, he said.

“It is in Uddhav Thackeray's hands, when to finalise. The Congress and NCP made mincemeat of our party. We too could have made mincemeat of Congress and NCP as I know my party's strength,” Ambedkar said.

Even if the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) wanted a front of opposition parties with the VBA, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party may not agree, he said.

Last week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had said that its Maha Vikas Aghadi partners (the Congress and NCP) have been kept in the loop about the talks with the VBA.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)