BJP Ignoring Our Issues: Apna Dal Hints At Walking Out of NDA

LUCKNOW : Apna Dal (S) convener and MoS in Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s Cabinet Anupriya Patel on Thursday, 21 February, hinted at cracks within the NDA.
She said that the BJP was “not displaying” interest in resolving their issues, reported ANI. In the 2014 national elections, the Apna Dal won two seats in east Uttar Pradesh – Mirzapur and Pratapgarh. The party split later, and Ms Patel’s faction continued its alliance with the BJP.

“Some differences cropped up with the BJP and we gave them time till February 20 to answer our questions. But they did not have any answers. So it appears the BJP is not interested in listening to or answering complaints of their allies,” Ms Patel said.
“Apna Dal is independent to make its own decision. We have called a party meeting and we will do what the party decides, whatever will be decided in the meeting we will let you know,” she said. Patel said: “We are facing some problems with the BJP and have conveyed it to the top leaders. We had given them time till February, but there has been no response. This shows they are not interested and we are free to choose our own path.”

The party’s national President Ashish Patel, however, stressed that they were still with the NDA and the future course of action will be decided by the end of February.”We are a part of NDA. We had some issues with Uttar Pradesh BJP, which we had raised in front of the central leadership. However, no action has been taken in that regard. Today, we have decided that a meeting of the core committee of our party will be convened on 28 February and the future course will be decided,” Ashish Patel told.
“We honestly want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get re-elected. But for that, the UP BJP has to change its attitude. If our demands are met, we will strongly support the NDA in 2019 elections,” he said. On the issues between Apna Dal and the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government, he said: “We had demanded that our party workers be given positions in different corporations of the state. They have made around 300 such appointments but none of our workers were given the opportunity.” Ashish added that Apna Dal is not in talks with any other party for an alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The Apna Dal was formed in 1995 by Sonelal Patel, an Other Backward Classes leader with strong support base in eastern UP and pockets of Bundelkhand. The party also claims it enjoys support among the non-OBC communities as the Kurmis. The party won an election for the first time in 2012, with Anupriya Patel entering the UP assembly.
Significantly, Apna Dal is not the only alliance partner threatening to walk out of the NDA. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) has also given an ultimatum that it will quit the NDA if its concerns are not addressed, The Indian Express reported.Sources in the party alleged that their workers were not appointed to UP corporations and boards. The party’s general secretary had said recently that if SBSP eventually parts ways with the BJP, it can either go with the SP-BJP alliance in the state or the Congress for the elections, the report added. The two dissenting parties assumes significance as allies could be crucial to the BJP’s electoral calculations in UP, especially if it wants to counter the SP-BSP alliance. (With ANI Inputs ).