SP calls bluff of Apna Dal (K), its sole remaining ally from 2022

Calling the bluff of the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) after it unilaterally announced candidates for three seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday evening announced six nominees. That included a candidate for Mirzapur, which the Apna Dal (K) had claimed for itself.

Earlier in the day, the Apna Dal (K), with which the SP has a seat-sharing deal outside the INDIA bloc, had announced that it would field three candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The seats were Phoolpur, Mirzapur and Kaushambi in eastern UP — all won by the BJP in 2019.

The differences between the SP and its ally have been playing out in public for some time. First, Apna Dal (K) leader and SP MLA Pallavi Patel refused to vote for two SP candidates in the February Rajya Sabha polls, saying that the SP had ignored its own PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak) formula in its choice of candidates. She eventually claimed she had voted for the only Dalit among the three SP candidates.

On Wednesday morning, Apna Dal (K) president Krishna Patel, who is Pallavi’s mother, said, “We are part of the INDIA bloc. We have been allies with Akhileshji since the Vidhan Sabha polls (of 2022). Under the alliance, we declare three seats today – Phoolpur, Mirzapur and Kaushambi.”

She added, “We had a conversation about these three seats. For the past month, I have been trying to talk to them (the SP), but it has not happened. We will update you when we talk to them.”

In response, senior SP leaders said this was a bargaining strategy of the Apna Dal (K) leadership. “They have not said who their candidates are, only that they are contesting these three seats. It’s a pressure tactic. Hopefully, it will get resolved soon,” said the leader.

SP national spokesperson