The sulking allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, have decided to give some more time to the national party till issues of “national interest” are settled. The decision followed a meeting of Apna Dal (S) with BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday. Ashish Patel of Apna Dal (S) said, “Our meeting with the national president (Amit Shah) was positive and we are hopeful that following his assurance, the issues would be resolved. Things would surely change.” “Amit Shah had called for a meeting with the alliance partners in Uttar Pradesh today (Wednesday) but he could not meet us due to issues of national interest. He assured to call us for a detailed discussion after a few days. We have decided to wait as our issues are not bigger than the security of the country,” said Arun Rajbhar, general secretary of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party. The allies were on revolt path alleging that the BJP was neglecting regional parties and their issues. Apna Dal even convened a meeting of its executive committee on February 28 to take a final call on whether to continue in the alliance or not. The meeting has now been postponed. “While some of our issues have been resolved, our two demands are pending which is to take action on quota within reservation for most Backward Classes and give at least five seats for SBSP in this Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh. However, our issues can wait till national issues concerning the security of the country are settled,” added Rajbhar. Earlier, Apna Dal (S) alleged that the BJP was not interested in resolving the grievances of its allies and had said that following lack of response from the National Party, Apna Dal was free to chose its own path and thus called February 28 meeting to take a final call. “As of now, we have decided to postpone our Thursday meeting as there are national issues of more concern and it is not appropriate to talk politics at present. We have decided to wait following the prevailing situation on the border,” Patel told The Indian Express. Sources said that apart from their local issues, both the allies were looking for a decent share of seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
