Owaisi's party ties up with Apna Dal (K) in UP for Lok Sabha polls

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) announced an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday.

Apna Dal (Kamerawadi)'s leader Pallavi Patel and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi led the alliance, which has been named PDM, which means "Pichda, Dalit and Musalman".

Other parties like Premchand Bind's Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party and Rashtriya Uday Party are also included in the alliance.

Recently, the Samajwadi Party called off its ties with Apna Dal (Kameravadi) amid the differences between the alliance partners that had been playing out in public for a long time.

Responding to a media inquiry on Thursday, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said, "We were in alliance with Apna Dal (Kameravadi) in the 2022 Assembly polls but it is not in 2024."

Rift between the two parties came to the fore when Apna Dal (K) leader and SP MLA Pallavi Patel refused to vote for two SP candidates in the

February Rajya Sabha polls, saying that the SP had ignored its own PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak) formula in its choice of candidates. She eventually claimed she had voted for the only Dalit among the three SP candidates.

The Apna Dal (K) is a faction of the Apna Dal founded by OBC leader Dr Sonelal Patel, who died in a road accident in 2009.

Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19.

Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.

Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13.

The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23 and June 1 respectively.

The votes will be counted on June 4.