After poll setbacks, Apna Dal(S) & SBSP dissolve all units in UP

Apna Dal (Sonelal) contested two seats and lost one, while SBSP lost its sole seat of Ghosi. Apna Dal’s national president, Anupriya Patel, won the Lok Sabha election from the Mirzapur seat.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) and SBSP are considered to have significant influence in the eastern part of UP.

On Saturday, SBSP’s national chief general secretary Arvind Rajbhar issued a letter stating that, as per the instruction of the party’s national president, O P Rajbhar, all major units of the party, including the UP executive committee, Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand, and Paschimanchal units at regional, district, mandal, Assembly and block level, along with all front and cells, have been dissolved. The SBSP was allocated just one seat, Ghosi, in its seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP for the Lok Sabha election. O P Rajbhar’s son, Arvind Rajbhar, contested the election and lost to the Samajwadi Party’s Rajeev Rai by 162,943 votes. Arvind Rajbhar received 340,188 votes.

O P Rajbhar, who is a Cabinet minister in Yogi Adityanath government, returned to the NDA fold in February, around four years after breaking ties with it. The SBSP contested the 2022 Assembly elections with the Samajwadi Party and won six seats.

SBSP’s national chief spokesperson Arun Rajbhar said Saturday’s decision was aimed at an overhaul of the organisation, which would include giving opportunities to new members at the district level and promoting old members in the party.

Meanwhile, national secretary of Apna Dal (S), Munnar Prajapati, informed through a letter recently that as per the instruction of the party’s national president, Anupriya Patel, all state, regional, district, and assembly level executives in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have been dissolved. “All party units of Uttar Pradesh have been dissolved and not at the national level,” clarified Prajapati. He added that there are several reasons for this, including the recent election.

In the Lok Sabha election, Apna Dal (S) contested from Mirzapur and Robertsganj seats, which they received in the seat-sharing pact with the NDA. In Robertsganj, Rinki Singh, who contested on an Apna Dal (S) ticket, secured the second position with 336,614 votes. Samajwadi Party’s Chhotelal won the election from Robertsganj by 129,234 votes.

The Mirzapur seat was won by Anupriya Patel by a margin of 37,810 votes. Samajwadi Party’s Ramesh Chand Bind, who secured the second position, got 433,821 votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Anupriya Patel won the Mirzapur seat by securing 591,564 votes, defeating her closest rival, Ram Charitra Nishad of SP, by 232,008 votes.

In the 2022 assembly election, Apna Dal (S) contested in an alliance with the BJP and won 12 seats.