The on-going legacy war in the Apna Dal, an ally of the BJP, is likely to be settled this week when both the factions of the party hold rallies to mark the 66th birth anniversary of its founder Dr Sonelal Patel.

Apna Dal MP Anupriya Patel is holding a rally in Varanasi on July 2, the birth anniversary of Dr Patel, while her estranged mother Krishna Patel and sister Pallavi Patel will be holding a rally in Allahabad on the same day.

Sources said that BJP president Amit Shah will be addressing the rally in Varanasi which will give a legitimacy of sorts to the Anupriya Patel faction.

Anupriya Patel, who earlier won her first election to the state assembly from Rohaniya in Varanasi in 2012 and then the Lok Sabha election from Mirzapur in 2014, has been an undemanding ally for the BJP.

The Apna Dal, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections had contested two seats in UP and had won both.

The BJP would prefer to continue its alliance with Anupriya Patel who has considerable influence in the Kurmi community and is already recognised as the legitimate political heir of Sonelal Patel.

Her mother Krishna Patel and sister Pallavi Patel who severed their ties with Anupriya Patel after the mother lost the by-election from Rohaniya in 2014 have been running a parallel party after “expelling” Anupriya from the party.

Krishna Patel said that her rally will mark the launch of the party’s campaign for the 2017 Assembly elections and if the BJP did not accept her demand for 150 seats, her party would contest on its own.

Ms Krishna Patel, in February this year, had attended a meeting with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Delhi regarding eh formation of a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh. But as the issue petered out, she termed it a courtesy meeting and said that she would continue her alliance with the BJP.