The Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 are set for kick-off on February 10 and with less than a week to go for the same, there is trouble brewing in the opposition alliance led by the Samajwadi Party. The Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) was slated to contest on 18 seats and it had declared the names of seven seats as well. But now, the party – a breakaway faction of the original Apna Dal – has now given back the seven seats. This has happened after a tiff over seat sharing.
It has been reported that the Samajwadi Party Wednesday declared that its leader Amarnath Maurya would contest from Allahabad West. This seat was on the list of seven seats which the Apna Dal (K) had announced. Further, the SP also announced the same day that Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel will contest from Sirathu in Kaushambi district. However, the party did not say whether Pallavi would contest on her party Apna Dal (K)’s ticket or on the SP symbol. The decision also triggered tensions in the SP’s Kaushambi unit, reported The Indian Express.
Following the developments, the Apna Dal (K) said Thursday that it was handing back all seven seats to the alliance which it had named last week.
Apna Dal (K) national general secretary Pankaj Niranjan was reported as saying that they do not want to cause any confusion and dispute and hence they have returned all the seats that were allocated to them in the alliance. The leader, however, stressed that the party was not leaving the alliance.
The Apna Dal (K) is reported to have a voter base among Kurmi (OBC) population and also among Muslims in eastern and central Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, another alliance partner, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) has called on all allies to remain united so that the BJP could be removed from power in the state.
SBSP spokesperson Shashipratap Singh said all parties in the alliance should respect the Samajwadi Party which is the big brother. “SBSP respects the big brother,” he was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
He further said that the allies, who have any isues, should speak to SP president Akhilesh Yadav to clear the matter.
