Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) to ally with Akhilesh Yadav's SP for 2022 UP elections

In what may be seen as another step of Akhilesh Yadav towards forming a grand alliance against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday joined hands with Apna Dal for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly.  Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) is headed by Krishna Patel while its sister body Apna Dal (S) is run by her daughter and Union Minister Anupriya Patel.

In September, Anupriya Patel had sent a proposal to her mother Krishna Patel for uniting Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) with Apna Dal (S). However, Krishna Patel had turned down the offer of Anupriya Patel to unite the two factions of Apna Dal, alleging that Apna Dal (S) working president Ashish Patel is making attempts to weaken her party Apna Dal (Kamerawadi). Apna Dal is active in Uttar Pradesh and mainly finds its support in the Kurmi community in the state. 

'Apna Dal is collating with Samajwadi Party'

Earlier in the day, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi)'s chief  Krishna Patel met Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav. Addressing the media after the meeting, Krishna Patel confirmed the news that her party Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) was joining hands with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. Krishna Patel said, "We didn't talk about the seat-sharing much... we have to walk together... with the similar ideology." 

We (Apna Dal & Samajwadi Party) are planning a programme soon... not decided the dates yet," Krishna Patel added. 

Akhilesh Yadav stitching grand alliance against BJP?

Further, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met AAP's UP in-charge Sanjay Singh leading to the speculation that the SP-AAP alliance is also on the cards. As per sources, they met for about an hour at the Janeshwar Mishra Trust office in Lucknow where a discussion was held on seat-sharing and other possibilities for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh election.

Akhilesh Yadav also held talks with Mahan Dal president Keshav Dev Maurya. Also, the Samajwadi Party chief met Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Chaudhary. So far, Samajwadi Party has announced a tie-up with Mahan Dal and Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. However, Akhilesh Yadav has made it clear that there will be no alliance of the Samajwadi Party with the Congress. In 2017, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies.