Anupriya Patel: Mirzapur MP, Union Minister, Apna Dal (S) Chief - Helming Many Affairs (image:facebook.com/AnupriyaSPatel

Popularly known as Behenji, Anupriya Patel and her Apna Dal (Sonelal) party are one of the strongest allies of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. It has the third-highest number of MLAs in the legislative assembly after the BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP).

In the Lok Sabha polls, Anupriya Patel is seeking his third tenure from Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency. Besides being a parliamentarian, she is currently serving as the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. She is one of the youngest ministers in the Modi cabinet.

Anupriya Patel”s political journey started in 2012 when she won the Rohaniya assembly seat in Varanasi, defeating BSP candidate Ramakant Singh. Her win prompted the BJP leadership to consider the possibility of an alliance, and in 2014 they became allies both at the centre and state levels. In Lok Sabha, the saffron party has given two seats—Mirzapur and Pratapgarh—to Apna Dal (S).

Anupriya”s entry into the Lok Sabha was in 2014. In the Lok Sabha polls, she won the seat from the Mirzapur Lok Sabha seat, and she retained the constituency in the 2019 election. In 2019, Anupriya Patel won the seat by defeating SP candidate Ramcharitra Nishad by a margin of 232008 votes.

In 2016, she became Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare in the first Modi government. Around the same time, drift ensued in the Patel family, and ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections, Anupriya formed Apna Dal (S).

The party now maintains the support of Kurmis and non-Yadav OBC groups, including Kushwaha, Maurya, Nishad, Pal, and Saini, in the state.

As per experts, Anupriya has not only emerged as a significant political outfit in the state but has also been able to garner support from the Kurmi vote bank, which comprises 6% of the total population. Caste arithmetic and the implementation of some central welfare schemes are likely to work in favour of the Apna Dal (S) chief.

Apna Dal was founded in 1995 by her father, Sone Lal Patel. He was an influential Kurmi leader in the state. After his death in 2009, his wife, Krishna Patel, became president of the party, and Anupriya, his younger daughter, was made general secretary. The split happened in 2016. Aside from Mirzapur, Apna Dal (S) is fielding from Robertsganj, which has a higher tribal population.

Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency comprises five assembly segments: Chhanbey (SC), Mirzapur, Majhawan, Chunar, and Marihan, all of which are held by the BJP-led NDA.

Anupriya Patel is fielded against the SP”s Ramesh Bind and the BSP”s Manish Tripathi.