A DAY after Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) chief Krishna Patel announced that her party would field candidates on three Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday hinted at the end of his party's alliance with the outfit, saying that the alliance with them was for the 2022 Assembly polls and not for 2024. The Apna Dal (K), on the other hand, released an old video of Yadav, in which he is seen promising to give them a bigger share in the future. Speaking to The Indian Express, Apna Dal (K) leader and SP MLA Pallavi Patel said the SP chief was not responding to their messages and initiatives for dialogue for the past one month and thus they declared candidates on three seats in UP, regarding which talks were on in the past. She said that her party would make an announcement “in view of present developments” on Friday. “The alliance was for 2022, not for 2024,” Akhilesh told mediapersons in Lucknow, when asked about Apna Dal (K)'s move. Akhilesh's remarks came a day after, Apna Dal (K) Chief Krishna Patel said that her party would field candidates on three Lok Sabha seats — Mirzapur, Kaushambi and Phoolpur Lok Sabha constituencies as part of the INDIA alliance. However, the SP had initially played down the claims, calling the announcement by Apna Dal (K) “pressure tactics”. The Apna Dal, which was formed by Sonelal Patel in early 90s. However, after his death, the party was divided into two factions. Apna Dal (Sonelal) formed in 2016, with Sonelal’s daughter and Union Minister Anupriya Patel, is in an alliance with the BJP both at the Centre as well as the state and has 13 MLAs in the state. Anupriya is a two-term MP from Mirzapur Lok Sabha seat, one of the seat that the Apna Dal (K) was also seeking to contest in alliance with SP. However, hours after Apna Dal (K) announced that it would contest Mirzapur Lok Sabha, along with Kaushambi and Phoolpur as part of INDIA alliance on Wednesday, the SP also declared its candidate in Mirzapur. Apna Dal (K) is headed by Sonelal’s wife Krishna Patel and daughter Pallavi Patel. It had joined hands with the SP before the 2022 Assembly polls but its leader Pallavi Patel had agreed to contest on Samajwadi Party ticket from Sirathu. Pallavi, who is sitting SP MLA at present, had defeated BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in a close fight from Sirathu in 2022 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh by a margin of nearly 8,000 votes. Since then, Apna Dal (K) has been demanding bigger share in alliance, that is, to field candidates on Apna Dal (K) symbol. “We have declared three seats on which we were in constant dialogue with both the SP and the Congress. We have declared these seats as part of the INDIA alliance.” Pallavi Patel told The Indian Express. She reiterated her claim that they had to make the announcement as the SP and its chief (Akhilesh Yadav) were not responding to their messages.
