Apna Dal splits wide open,one faction merges with Congress

The party has some following among the Kurmis in central and eastern UP. The infighting came to fore after Patel asked Srivastava to withdraw his nomination from Phulpur. Srivastava had filed his nomination as a candidate of Apna Dal and refused to withdraw papers,thereby forcing Patel to contest as an independent since he was not allotted the symbol of cup and saucer of his party.

Srivastava made the announcement of the merger at the state Congress headquarters in Lucknow in presence of AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh.

“In his capacity as working president of Apna Dal,Srivastava has decided to merge his party with Congress and we have accepted his offer,” said Digvijay Singh.

Continuing his tirade against Patel,Srivastava accused him of selling party tickets. “In case Sone Lal Patel wants to use party symbol after elections,he will have to re-register his party. He has done a lot of mischief and also spoiled my election. We have expelled him from the party for six years. Since,the party has now merged with the Congress,I have left it upon the candidates to decide their loyalties,” Srivastava said.

Patel,on the other hand,termed Srivastava as a ‘sipahi’ of the party who couldn’t remove the superintendent of police. “I had formed the party and today majority of its members are with me. Moreover,Srivastava had left the party on April 4 and has no right to call himself working president,” Patel said. “All candidates,including Atiq Ahmad,are supporting me,” he added.

He said Apna Dal has fielded 35 candidates in Uttar Pradesh and total 104 across the country,including in Bihar,Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.