Anupriya Patel re-elected as Apna Dal (S) president

Party cadre should start preparation for 2024 Lok Sabha election. In each election, Apna Dal (S) should increase its strength in the Lok Sabha as well as in legislative assembly, she says

LUCKNOW Union minister of state (MoS) for commerce and industry, Anupriya Patel, was re-elected the national president of the Apna Dal (S) in the national conference of the party held at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow on Friday.

Union minister and Apna Dal (Sonelal) national president Anupriya Patel visits a dengue ward at the Government District Hospital, in Mirzapur, recently. (PTI Photo)

“The party cadre should start preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In each election, Apna Dal (S) should increase its strength in the Lok Sabha as well as in the legislative assembly. It will increase the support base of the party in the state,” she said while addressing party leaders.

In the 2012 assembly election, the Apna Dal (S) was able to send a single MLA to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. Now, the party’s strength has increased to 12 members in the state assembly and has two members in the Lok Sabha.

The Apna Dal (S) is fighting for social justice and has emerged as the voice of the downtrodden, Dalits and backward communities. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has given recognition of a state level party to Apna Dal (S), which is the third-largest party in the UP legislative assembly.

Expressing concern over the delay in the recruitment of 69,000 school teachers, Patel said the state government should remove anomalies in the reservation and complete the recruitment process soon. The party also urged the central government to set up a separate ministry for the backward communities, she added.

Calling upon the cadre to fulfil the dream of party founder Sonelal Patel, she also raised the issue of infighting in the family over the legacy of Sonelal. “After my father’s death in 2009, I was made the national general secretary of the party,” said Patel.

“I worked hard to strengthen the party’s base. When the party got support of masses in consecutive assembly elections after 2012, some members of the family rose in rebellion,” she said, indicating towards her sister Pallavi Patel, who is MLA from Sirathu seat and her mother Krishna Patel, who is president of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi).

Recently, former youth wing president of Apna Dal (S) Hemant Chaudhary rose in rebellion against the party leadership.