Sonelal Patel birth anniversary: Shah, Yadav to attend separate events

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav will attend separate events in Lucknow on Sunday to mark the birth anniversary of Sonelal Patel, a veteran Kurmi leader and founder of the Apna Dal.

The birth anniversary celebrations of the late leader, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, assume significance.

Shah will be the chief guest at the event being organised by the Apna Dal (Sonelal), which is an ally of the ruling BJP and is led by Sonelal Patel's daughter Anupriya Patel.

Yadav will be the chief guest at the function organised by the Kamera Chetna Foundation, the social wing of the Apna Dal (Kamerwadi), led by Sonelal Patel's wife Krishna Patel.

In a statement, Apna Dal (Sonelal) Uttar Pradesh unit spokesperson Rajesh Srivastava said they will mark the occasion as "Jan Swabhiman Diwas".

According to him, the party's event at Lucknow's Indira Gandhi Pratishthan will be attended by Shah, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, Union ministers Ramdas Athawale and Anupriya Patel, former Bihar chief minister and Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) president Jitan Ram Manjhi, and NISHAD party chief Sanjay Nishad.

In a statement, Pankaj Niranjan, who heads the Kamera Chetna Foundation, said it will organise a discussion on the topic "need for caste-wise census" to mark the birth anniversary of Sonelal Patel.

He said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will be the chief guest and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) chief Krishna Patel will preside over the function. Former MP and socialist thinker Uday Pratap Singh will be the guest of honour.

The programme will be held at the Lohia Auditorium at the Samajwadi Party office.

The Apna Dal was founded by Sonelal Patel in 1995.

Born on July 2, 1950 in Bagulihai village in Kannauj district, Sonelal Patel was a close companion of BSP founder Kanshi Ram. He died in a road accident in 2009.

In October 2014, fissures within the Apna Dal became public for the first time as its then national general secretary Anupriya Patel was removed from her post.

Later, the two Apna Dal factions aligned with rival groupings led by the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

The Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 MLAs and two MPs, including Anupriya Patel. Her husband Ashish Patel is a cabinet minister in the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh.

The rival faction is led by her mother Krishna Patel and elder sister Pallavi Patel.

Pallavi Patel trounced UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from the Sirathu assembly seat in the 2022 elections as an SP candidate.