In UP, a third front arises as SP ally joins hands with Owaisi

At a joint press conference in Lucknow, the new front accused the ruling BJP and main Opposition parties in the state of “neglecting Pichhda, Dalit and Musalman (Backwards, Dalits and Muslims) and failing to give them proper respect and share”. The new front also took a pledge to work for the three sections of the society and added that their alliance was against the government as well as the main Opposition parties, alluding to the Samajwadi Party.

“Pichhda, Dalit aur Musalman samaj, jinke prati sarkar ka jo rawaiya hai aur mukhya vipaksha ke log anyay ke khilaf chup baithe hain aur jaayaj sawalaon ke naam par pichhe hatt rahein hain, aise mein sarkar ke khilaf aur mukhya vipaksha ke khilaf in samajon ke upar ho rahe lagatar utpeeran mein PDM Naya Morcha ko lekar aaya hain (With the kind of attitude of the government towards the Backward, Dalit and Muslim communities and also of the main Opposition parties who are silent on the injustice done to these communities and has been dithering on some of the justified questions of these communities… In this scenario, we have come together with PDM Naya Morcha against the government as well as against the main Opposition,” Pallavi Patel of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) said at a press conference attended by Owaisi, Pal, and Bind in Lucknow.

When asked about SP chief Akhilesh Yadav having coined the slogan “PDA” earlier, Pallavi said, “We chose the slogan of ‘PDM Naya Morcha’ because there was confusion regarding the alphabet A in PDA. It stood for ‘aadhi aabaadi’ (half the population or women), sometimes it stood for ‘alpasankhyak’ (minorities) and sometimes, it stood for ‘adivasi’ (tribals)… There should never be any confusion in politics. There should always be transparency. That is why, the confusion was removed and those who were genuine victims of social, economic, and political exploitation have been included.”

“We believe that this fight should not be there only till Lok Sabha election but should go further,” said Owaisi as he hit out at the Samajwadi Party (SP) for “neglecting Muslims”.
Referring to the SP’s ticket distribution in Moradabad and Rampur where there was confusion over who was the official nominee, the AIMIM chief said, “In the last Assembly elections in UP, 90 per cent Muslims voted for SP, but what was the result? You saw what happened in Moradabad and Rampur. How did this happen? Who is responsible for it? In Moradabad, Dr ST Hassan saheb was the leader of the SP, but he had to suffer so much humiliation. Two candidates were given tickets. Both were given form B. See what happened in Rampur.”

“No one tolerates the leadership of the Muslim community. They only ask for their votes. So far, 17 Lok Sabha elections have taken place. Will you (Muslims) remain as vote givers or will you become vote takers? Muslims are being made invisible in the country’s politics,” said Owaisi.

Doubling down against the Samajwadi Party, Pallavi Patel said that it failed to share even the needlepoint space. “Aap agar sui ki nok ke barabar bhi jameen nahi dena chahenge kisi ki bhagidari ke liye… Ek hath dahrmita ka result Mahabahrat tha..Aur aaj bhi agar bhagidari nahi denge toh result Mahabharat hoga” (If you are unable to give even needle point share to anyone in the alliance… the result of such stubbornness was Mahabharat. Even today, if you would not give anyone their share, then the result would be Mahabharat only),” Patel said.

When asked if she thought Owasi could fight the battle better for the PDM communities vis-a-vis Akhilesh, Pallavi said she believed “Owasi can do it”.

Earlier this month, Apna Dal(K) had expressed its displeasure over not being given any seat by the INDIA bloc for the Lok Sabha polls. It also said that the Opposition alliance leaders should clarify if Apna Dal(K) was still part of the bloc. The development came after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks that the alliance with Apna Dal(K) was for the 2022 Assembly elections and not the Lok Sabha polls. Yadav made the comments after Apna Dal(K) said that it would be contesting three Lok Sabha seats — Phulpur, Mirzapur, and Kaushambi.

On Sunday, Patel, however, claimed that while she was still an MLA of the alliance, but if the SP wanted, she would tender her resignation or expel her.

The Apna Dal (K) leader had won on an SP ticket from the Sirathu constituency in the 2022 Assembly elections, defeating BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

The rift between the SP and the Apna Dal came out in the open during the recent Rajya Sabha election when Pallavi Patel insisted that she would only vote for PDA candidates. Two of the three SP candidates were not from any of the three groups.