Samajwadi Party calls Apna Dal faction’s decision to contest three Lok Sabha seats in U.P. as ‘unilateral’

The Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), led by Krishna Patel, a Samajwadi Party (SP) ally, on March 20 announced its decision of contesting the Phulpur, Mirzapur, and Kaushambi Parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh under the umbrella of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.

“A meeting of the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) central executive committee was held under the chairmanship of the national president Krishna Patel. The central executive committee decided to contest three seats - Phulpur, Mirzapur, and Kaushambi - as part of the INDIA bloc, in Uttar Pradesh,” a press release issued by the central office secretary Ram Sanehi Patel stated.

The Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader Pallavi Patel, was elected MLA from Sirathu, on a Samajwadi Party (SP) symbol. She had defeated the sitting U.P. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. The SP, a key constituent of the INDIA bloc called the announcement unilateral.

“I don’t think they [Apna Dal] talked either with the Congress or us [SP] in the INDIA bloc before announcing the seats. It is a unilateral decision,” SP national spokesperson, Sunil Singh Yadav ‘Sajan’, said.

The late Sonelal Patel, who formed a Kurmi centric party, Apna Dal during the 1990s, has seen division with one faction named Apna Dal (Sonelal), led by Mr. Patel’s wife Krishna Patel’s estranged daughter and Union Minister Anupriya Patel, while the other faction is led by Ms. Krishna Patel and her other daughter Ms. Pallavi Patel. Both factions claim to enjoy considerable support among the Kurmi community in eastern and central U.P. The community has sizeable presence in roughly 15 Lok Sabha seats in the State. Interestingly, the late Mr. Patel also fought the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Phulpur.

In U.P., the SP and the Congress’ seat-sharing compromise under the INDIA bloc has Congress contesting 17 seats and the SP fielding candidates on 63 seats.