Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s ruling BJP and opposition SP Sunday used veteran Kurmi leader and Apna Dal founder Sonelal Patel’s 74th birth anniversary to reach out to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), especially the Kurmis, who form the support base of Patel’s party.
Both parties held separate events in Lucknow to mark the day, with the two factions of the Apna Dal — one led by Patel’s younger daughter Anupriya and the other by her mother and sister — for the first time providing a platform to their bigger allies (BJP and SP, respectively) to woo the OBCs.
The development comes at a time when the chief minister of neighbouring Bihar, Nitish Kumar, a Kurmi leader himself with a significant following among OBCs, is seeking to play a pivotal role in bringing the opposition parties together against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Senior BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah arrived in Lucknow to mark Patel’s birth anniversary and asked workers of the Anupriya-led Apna Dal faction to resolve to make Narendra Modi the prime minister for a third time in 2024.
On the other side, SP national president Akhilesh Yadav attended a separate event and stated that the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) would not be able to compete with the “unity of PDA (picchde (backwards), Dalits and alpsankhyaks (minorities)” and recounted an alleged lathi-charge on Sonelal when BJP leader Kalyan Singh was UP chief minister in 1999.
Speaking to ThePrint, insiders from both factions of the Apna Dal admitted that the real reason their bigger allies chose to appropriate the legacy of Patel was to send a message to the OBCs, which form 40 per cent of UP’s population, especially the Kurmis and the Koeris.
Like 2022, this year too, Anupriya and her sister Pallavi clashed over holding an event to commemorate the birth anniversary of their father in Lucknow’s well-known Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, the preferred venue for most significant government and political events.
While Anupriya heads the Apna Dal (Sonelal) faction of the main Apna Dal, founded by her father in November 1995, her mother Krishna Patel and elder sister Pallavi are leading the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) faction.
Both factions had applied to the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) for permission to hold events in separate halls in the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan Sunday and been granted so.
But the permit for Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) was reportedly “revoked” later by the authority over lack of no-objection certificate from the local police. The Apna Dal (K) later shifted the event to the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Auditorium in the premises of the SP office in Lucknow.
Decrying the move, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), however, said that they could have applied for an NOC by they were not given time to do so.
In the run-up to Sonelal’s birth anniversary last year too, Apna Dal (K)’s application to hold an event in the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan was cancelled by the LDA, which reportedly said the faction had not applied for permission well in time.
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‘All because of Modiji’
The Apna Dal (S) and the BJP commemorated Patel’s birth anniversary as ‘Jan Swabhiman Diwas’ along with other allies — the Republican Party of India (RPI) led by Ramdas Athawale, and Sanjay Nishad’s Nishad Party, which are in coalition with the BJP at the Centre and state level, respectively.
Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) president and former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi was also expected to be in attendance, but was not present at the event. An insider from Apna Dal (S) later told ThePrint that Manjhi was keeping his options open, considering the political happenings in Bihar and at the Centre.
Speaking at the event, where UP CM Yogi Adityanath was also present, both Shah and Anupriya asked party workers to resolve to win the 2024 general election and elaborated on the works done by the Modi government for backwards.
Anupriya said the demand for creating a ministry for the backwards had been pending for long and she believed it would be fulfilled under Modi’s leadership.
“Under the leadership of Modiji, not one but several decisions have been taken for the benefit of the backwards,” she said.
“If someone gave constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, it is Modiji’s government. If someone implemented reservation for backwards in the NEET exam and post-graduate admission process, it is Modiji’s government. If reservation for backwards was implemented in Sainik Schools, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas, it was because of Modiji,” she added.
Shah appealed to the workers to ensure that Apna Dal (S), the BJP and the Nishad Party together win the 2024 election.
“This is the first cabinet of the NDA after independence where 27 backward ministers are working. For the first time, under the NDA coalition, there are maximum number of MPs from backward, adivasi and Dalit communities,” he said.
He repeated Anupriya’s words about the efforts undertaken by the central government for the OBCs, and also mentioned the work done by the state governments for backwards classes, such as naming a university in UP’s Azamgarh after Maharaja Suheldev Rajbhar.
CM Adityanath said that the “dreams of social justice for which he (Sonelal Patel) had fought for, PM Modi had realised them in the last nine years”.
‘Samajwadis along with PDA will win’
Speaking to workers from the SP and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), SP chief Akhilesh Yadav talked about the need for a caste census in India.
“When we get together and raise this question (of caste census), the BJP raises questions about us… they call us casteist. Look how cleverly the BJP has given the slogan of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ (development for all). It does not happen through mere lip service,” he said.
“Inequality will end only when a caste census takes place and when rights and respect are given to communities according to their population,” he added.
Akhilesh pointed out that Patel had worked for the bahujan (a term referring to the OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) community his entire life and dedicated his life to their cause.
Recounting an alleged lathi-charge on Patel during a pre-election meet in 1999, he said: “There were several instances when he had to take risks and he was attacked. In Allahabad, when he was set to participate in an event in PD Tandon Park, remember who attacked him? And that attack was so bad that he had to undergo treatment for years.”
“He always raised his voice for the deprived and I think the real tribute to him will be to follow the path shown by him,” Akhilesh added.
He also said the BJP should state the number of people from the “PDA” (pichchde, Dalit and alpsankhyak) communities who had got appointments in the state government in recent times.
“The BJP government should tell whether those from the PDA are getting respect according to their population in India. It is a long fight, and we are hopeful the NDA will not be able to compete with the PDA,” he asserted, adding that the “samajwadis will move forward with the PDA and we will win in the days to come”.
Backward votes are key, say insiders
Speaking to ThePrint, an Apna Dal (S) leader said Shah was for the first time present to mark Patel’s birth anniversary due to the approaching elections and in order to woo the backward voters, who helped the BJP win the 2014 and 2019 general elections.
“It is all about the backward votes. The general election is approaching and the BJP knows the OBC votes matter in UP. This is why Shah is trying to appropriate the legacy of Sonelal Patel and send a message to the backward classes,” said the party insider.
He added that “most workers present at the anniversary event belonged to the BJP and not the Apna Dal (S)” and complained that while the two allies fought elections together many times, Apna Dal workers were being neglected and the party was “in the hands of a few”.
According to a post-poll survey by Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 53 per cent of Kurmi and Koeris and 60 per cent of other OBCs voted for the BJP in the 2014 general election.
Speaking to ThePrint, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) chief Krishna Patel said that they had to opt for the Samajwadi Party office because they were denied permission for holding the event in the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan.
“Like last year when we were denied permission to hold the event despite making the payment multiple times, this time too, we were denied permission (by the LDA) due to the misuse of government power,” she said.
To a query about the Apna Dal (S) event, she said that the optics was because of general election.
“It is happening only because of elections. As far as our event is concerned, we had to shift to the SP office because we were denied permission. We will continue to raise the demand for caste census till the government agrees to it,” she said.
The two factions of the Apna Dal wield influence in central and eastern UP districts, especially among the Kurmis and Koeris who form a significant votebank in districts like Prayagraj, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Kaushambi, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Sonbhadra, Fatehpur, Basti, Gonda, Pratapgarh and Bahraich.
The SP, which has given the slogan of “PDA versus NDA”, is also projecting itself as the real benefactor of the backward communities.
“Patel’s soul is with the Samajwadis and if someone is really taking forward his legacy, it is our MLA Pallavi Patel,” SP spokesperson Manoj Singh Kaka told ThePrint.
Pallavi had fought the 2022 UP assembly election from Sirathu on an SP symbol.
“Look at how undemocratically the LDA cancelled the booking made by the Apna Dal (K) for the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan. After the permission was cancelled, Apna Dal (K) suggested to us that they wanted to hold the event in the SP auditorium. Since they are in alliance with us, we told them our office is open for them. Today, an important meaning was given to the term PDA by our leader Akhilesh Yadav. Dr Patel’s life was full of struggle and his real legacy will rest with those who talk about pichchde, Dalit and alpsankhyaks,” he added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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