Anupriya Patel Nearly a fortnight after quitting Apna Dal(S), Hemant Chaudhary has accused party chief and Union minister Anupriya Patel and her husband, Ashish Singh Patel, of taking money from ticket seekers before the 2022 Assembly elections.
Accusing the couple of running the party like a “private limited firm”, Hemant Chaudhary told The Indian Express: “Ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections, party leaders were asked to pay money if they wished to meet party president Anupriya Patel to request for ticket and touch her feet. Against that payment, they were given receipts of membership.”
“Those who were in the party for five years and less had to pay Rs 1.01 lakh, whereas others who were in the party for more than five years, had to pay Rs 26,000. I also paid Rs 26,000 and I was assured of getting the ticket to contest from Shohratgarh seat in Siddharthnagar district. But ultimately, the ticket was given to an outsider,” he added. Chaudhary had made the same allegations at a meeting of his supporters in Basti district on Wednesday.
Chaudhary was Apna Dal’s district unit president of Siddharthnagar since 2015. In 2017, he was appointed state president of the party’s youth wing.
A senior party functionary claimed that Chaudhary was removed from his post last year after party leadership received complaints that he was taking money from people by promising them government jobs.
Meanwhile, Apna Dal(S) rejected the allegations, calling them “baseless”, and demanded an apology from Chaudhary.
In a letter to Chaudhary, the party accused Chaudhary of being “a part of the conspiracy to defame the party”.
Writing on behalf of the party leadership, Vishwanathganj MLA Jeet Lal Patel stated that for the selection of candidates before the 2017 and 2022 Assembly polls, the party’s core committee had put conditions that the applications for the tickets would be considered only when the applicant has enrolled a certain number of active members. Those workers who were in the party for more than five years had to enroll at least 100 members (membership fees Rs 250 for each active member), whereas workers being less than five years in the party had to enroll minimum 400 active members, it said.
“…in a disgusting manner, you have presented that before media as a fee to touch the feet of our leader (Anupriya),” Patel said in the letter and added that he himself fulfilled these conditions as a candidate and submitted the receipts after enrolling 100 active members.
As per that letter, the party had not found Chaudhary “suitable” for fielding him in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and later removed him from the position of the party’s youth wing because he (Chaudhary) “lacked dedication for the party and social justice”.