This Article is From Mar 16, 2019

Congress Seals Deal With Krishna Patel-Led Apna Dal In UP For 2019 Polls

The Congress has left two Lok Sabha seats for the alliance partner -- Basti and Pilibhit.

Congress Seals Deal With Krishna Patel-Led Apna Dal In UP For 2019 Polls

Krishna Patel's son-in-law Pankaj Niranjan Singh Chandel has also joined the Congress.

New Delhi:

The Congress on Saturday sealed an alliance with the Krishna Patel-led faction of the Apna Dal in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has left two Lok Sabha seats for the alliance partner -- Basti and Pilibhit.

Soon after the finalisation of the alliance, Krishna Patel's son-in-law Pankaj Niranjan Singh Chandel joined the Congress in the presence of party President Rahul Gandhi.

The move came a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finalised a seat sharing deal with the Apna Dal (Sone Lal), the other faction of the party led by Anupriya Patel, a Minister of State in the Narendra Modi government.

On Friday, the BJP sealed a seat-sharing arrangement with the Apna Dal (S). The Anupriya Patel faction will contest two seats. 

The Apna Dal (Krishna Patel) is led by its founder Sone Lal Patel's widow. Sone Lal Patel, a regional leader of Patels, died in a car crash in 2009. The party was later split between his widow and elder daughter. 

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