Lok Sabha Elections: Lok Sabha elections 2024 are going to be held next year. The allies of BJP and Samajwadi Party (SP) have started pushing for this. BJP’s ally Nishad Party has already staked claim for the Lok Sabha seats. At the same time, Apna Dal (S), another ally of BJP led by Anupriya Patel, may also demand a share of large seats for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. On the other hand, SP’s ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is also pushing for a bigger share after its impressive performance in the urban local body elections.
Senior leaders denied
Senior leaders of Apna Dal have refused to make such remarks. Party insiders said that several senior organizational leaders have been raising the demand to initiate talks with the BJP in this regard, citing its considerable political clout over time. Apna Dal contested from Mirzapur and Pratapgarh in the year 2014 and from Mirzapur and Robertganj in the year 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Both the times the party had won.
Election Commission promotes Apna Dal
Earlier this year, Apna Dal was promoted from a registered political organization to a state party by the Election Commission. In the year 2017, the party had won nine seats. At the same time, in the UP elections of the year 2022, Apna Dal made its lead in 12 seats. Not only this, the party recently added one more seat by winning the Swar assembly by-election. A senior Apna Dal leader told TOI that the party leadership is expected to take up the issue with the BJP at an appropriate time.
Union Minister is Anupriya Patel
Anupriya Patel, who represents Mirzapur in the Lok Sabha, is also a Union Minister. Her husband Ashish Patel is an MLC and a minister in the Yogi government. Apart from these two, no other Apna Dal leader is a minister in the central or state governments.
Demand for 27 Lok Sabha seats
BJP’s ally Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad has already staked claim for 27 Lok Sabha seats. There is a large population of fishermen community on these seats, which is a very backward class. In the 2017 assembly elections, the Nishad party won only one seat, which was won by Vijay Mishra from Gyanpur in Bhadohi. Forging an alliance with the BJP in the 2022 assembly elections, the party increased its tally to six. At the same time, Sanjay was made a cabinet minister in the Yogi government. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sanjay’s son Praveen Nishad won on a BJP ticket from Sant Kabir Nagar.
RLD submits claim
Samajwadi Party’s ally Rashtriya Lok Dal is also presenting its claim after better performance in 2022 elections and recently concluded urban local body elections. RLD mainly demanded more seats in the civic elections in its stronghold of West UP. RLD sources said party chief Jayant Chowdhary had also sought mayoral tickets for party candidates from Bareilly and Mathura, but the SP turned down the demand.
SP-RLD differences
Congress Karnataka assembly elections the differences between SP and RLD became more pronounced. Even where the Congress is strong, Akhilesh considered extending support. However, Jayant disagreed, saying that the opposition would formally consider supporting the Congress later. Apart from this, Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. But, Jayant went to Bangalore to attend the event.
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