Lucknow: In a show of strength, Apna Dal (Sonelal) will hold a rally in Varanasi on Sunday to mark the 68th birth anniversary of Dr Sonelal Patel with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath billed to be key speaker.
The Jan Swaabhimaan Rally, which will also be attended by state minister Omprakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), is an opportunity for alliance partners to come together for the first time since the "historic" win in the assembly elections, said party spokesperson Arvind Sharma.
"It will be a show of strength for the party, as we look forward to strengthening our ties with our alliance partners, BJP and SBSP. This year, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be the key speaker in the rally, which is going to be attended by party workers not only from UP but from neighbouring states as well," Sharma told PTI.
Last year, BJP president Amit Shah had addressed the gathering.
"This year's Jan Swabhimaan Rally is going to be a special one as it is for the first time that both BJP and Apna Dal(S) are sharing the stage after the historic win in the 2017 UP assembly elections," Sharma said.
The party is planning to distribute pamphlets containing detailed information about Dr Sonelal, founder of the Apna Dal and father of Union Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel. Apna Dal(S) is a breakaway faction formed following tensions between Patel and her mother.
According to Sharma, tomorrow's rally in Varanasi's Rohaniya area holds special significance for party workers and supporters as "it will also provide a common platform to all the alliance partners in view of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections".
On June 24, Apna Dal(S) had demanded that the civil enclave of Allahabad airport be named after Sonelal Patel.
"Since Allahabad has been the karmabhoomi of Sonelal Patel, we are demanding that the civil enclave of the Allahabad airport be renamed after him," national president of the party Ashish Singh Patel had said.
In October 2014, fissures within Apna Dal became public for the first time when its then national general secretary and Mirzapur MP Anupriya Patel was removed from her post with immediate effect.
Infighting between mother and daughter intensified in May 2015. Anupriya Patel was also stripped of party's primary membership for alleged anti-party activities.
In November 2016, Apna Dal (Sonelal) was registered with the Election Commission, and subsequently contested the 2017 UP assembly elections.
