After the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party in three Central Indian states, dissent has become the flavour of the season for its allies in all states, including Uttar Pradesh.
Trouble is brewing for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh with its two allies, Apna Dal and Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), going public and expressing frustration and demanding “respectable number” of seats for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Moreover, the proposed Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance has sparked off possibilities of fresh political alignments in UP.
In the 2014 general elections, the National Democratic Alliance had won 73 Lok Sabha seats and that holds the key for 2019. Both Apna Dal and SBSP are flexing their muscles to extract maximum number of seats from the BJP, as they have assessed that the ruling party is on the back foot after the defeats in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly elections.
“In the present scenario in UP, workers of NDA constituents are disappointed. No one is paying heed to alliance partners. The MLAs and ministers too have the same anger. The BJP brass should rectify this situation, otherwise the NDA will suffer maximum losses in UP,” said Apna Dal (Sonelal) national working president Ashish Patel on Wednesday.
Elected to UP Legislative Council earlier this year, Patel is married to party MP from Mirzapur and Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel.
Patel asserted, “Samman janak seats milni chahiye. Is ke neeche hum samjhauta nahin karenge.” (We should get honourable number of seats. There will be no compromise on fewer than that).
In 2014, Apna Dal (Sonelal) in alliance with BJP had won two Lok Sabha seats in UP.
The other ally, SBSP, with three MLAs in UP Assembly, is miffed with the BJP for not being invited for the Ghazipur rally to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 29. The party is unhappy for being ignored by the administration and also for the delay in implementation of social justice committee report providing for sub-quota for the Most Backward Classes (MBCs) within the 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Patel’s outburst came days after another junior partner of the BJP, Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar, went public with similar grievances after the BJP lost the Assembly elections in three Central Indian states.
SBSP principal general secretary and UP organisation in-charge Arvind Rajbhar said, “Mantriji (SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar) has not been invited to the Prime Minister’s programme on December 29, despite being an MLA from Zahoorabad assembly seat of the district.”
Incidentally, on December 29, the Prime Minister is scheduled to release a postage stamp of Raja Suheldeo, an icon of Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party.
Arvind Rajbhar further said, “I have spoken to state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey over delay in announcing seat sharing. But no response has come yet. We are in such a strong position in UP today that if the BJP does not support, then there is the option of the SP-BSP. Options are open.”
He demanded for his party five Lok Sabha seats — Salempur, Ghosi, Machhlishahr, Chandauli and Ambedkarnagar— all are currently represented by the BJP.
Meanwhile, reacting to Patel’s remarks, BJP spokesman Shalabh Mani Tripathi said: “BJP respects both Apna Dal (S) leader Anupriya Patel and party chief Ashish Patel. The BJP and Apna Dal (S) have cordial relations. Even after this, if he has any complaint or faces any problem on any issue, cognisance will be taken of the matter and it will be resolved appropriately.”