Mumbai, Mar 30 (IANS): The Bhimshakti, a Dalit organisation in Maharashtra, has extended its support to the Congress and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in a bid to help defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), officials said here on Saturday.

Bhimshakti chief and Rajya Sabha member Chandrakant Handore held a meeting in Chembur on Saturday where a unanimous decision on this count was taken, as the Dalit outfit vowed to foil the BJP’s target of winning 400-plus seats in the upcoming general elections.

“By coining the slogan of '400-plus seats', the BJP’s clear motive is to change the Constitution drafted by B.R. Ambedkar, and work to achieve the RSS’ agenda of creating a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ in its upcoming centenary year (1925),” Handore said.

The Bhimshakti will support all the MVA candidates and attempt to defeat the BJP-RSS combine in maximum seats in Maharashtra, he added.

“It is the responsibility of the masses and the Ambedkarites to help save the Constitution and democracy, which are under threat. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has raised awareness on this through his Bharat Jodo Yatras in the past two years,” Handore said.

He also said that the Bhimshakti activists and the MVA workers will go from door to door in the villages, towns, and cities to make people aware of the BJP’s 'conspiracy', and call upon them to preserve the Constitution.

The meeting, which was addressed online by AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala and other state Congress leaders, also urged Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) President Prakash Ambedkar to join hands with the MVA-Bhikshakti combine in this endeavour.

Bhimshakti leaders such as ex-Mayor of Nashik Ashok Dive, Madhya Pradesh President Sunil Borse, Goa chief Dnyaneshwear Warkhedkar, Dinkar Okar, Namdev Pimple, Mumbai unit head Shashikant Bansode, Gopalrao Netrapale, and Ravi Sonkamble attended the meeting, among others.

Besides the MVA in Maharashtra, the Bhimshakti will also support the INDIA bloc candidates in the neighbouring states where it has strength, said a party leader.