Apnal Dal, BJP’s ally in Uttar Pradesh, has threatened to quit the National Democratic Alliance.
Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel, minister of state at the Centre, hinted at the exit on Thursday, saying the BJP did not seem interested in resolving its issues.
“We had a few issues with the BJP, which we put forward to their central leadership. We have given them time till 20 February to resolve these issues but they have not. It shows the BJP is not interested in the issues brought up by its allies. So, Apna Dal is now independent to make its own decisions,” Patel told reporters.
However, Ashish Patel, Apna Dal president and Anupriya’s husband, said the party was still a part fo the NDA, reported ANI.
“We are part of NDA. We had some issues with Uttar Pradesh BJP, which we had raised in front of the central leadership. However, no action has been taken in that regard. Today, we have decided that a meeting of core committee of our party will be convened on 28 February and the future course will be decided,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“We honestly want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get re-elected. But for that the UP BJP has to change its attitude. If our demands are met, we will strongly support the NDA in 2019 elections,” he added.
Apna Dal won two seats from eastern UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In recent months, the party has expressed displeasure with the BJP, accusing it of discriminating against Apna Dal workers. Minister Anupriya Patel had skipped Modi’s Ghazipur rally in December.
Among Apna Dal’s demands is 50% reservation for OBCs and Dalits in postings of District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police in UP, Times of India reported.
BJP has also been facing trouble from another ally in UP, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. SBSP leader Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is also a UP cabinet minister, had on 17 February said he was resigning from the backward class welfare department because his recommendations on appointment of state backward castes panel members had been “ignored”.
SBSP general secretary Arun Kumar Rajbhar said the party could quit its alliance with the BJP and tie up with either the SP-BJP alliance or the Congress, the Indian Express reported.
SBSP has said it will announce its decision at a party rally in Varanasi on 24 February.