After the electoral debacle faced by the Samajwadi Party led alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) is likely to return to the fold of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in the state.
The SBSP, a former ally of the BJP, had contested the 2022 UP assembly election in alliance with SP.
Om Prakash Rajbhar was in Delhi on Friday and he met senior BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Sunil Bansal. It is being claimed that Rajbhar may get a berth in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet as well.
However, there was no official confirmation in this regard, neither from the BJP nor from the SBSP. Rajbhar, however, denied visiting Delhi and meeting the BJP leaders.
“The news is totally baseless and fabricated by the media. I have not gone to Delhi since 2019 so there is no question of such a meeting with the BJP leaders,” Rajbhar said.
“There is no truth in such reports, our alliance with the Samajwadi Party remains intact and both the parties are now working for the success of our candidates in election to UP Legislative Council from the local bodies constituencies,” Rajbhar said and added, “I last met the BJP leaders in 2019 and went to Delhi after resigning from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet. My son goes to Delhi. We are focusing on 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”
Rajbhar said he had no plans to attend the oath ceremony of the Yogi Adityanath ministers on March 25.
“Why should I attend the oath ceremony of Yogi Adityanath. I have not been invited so why should I go. Even if the BJP accedes to all my pending demands like caste based census and separate quota within quota for non-Yadav Other Backward Classes, I will remain with Akhilesh Yadav and contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Samajwadi Party,” he said.
The SBSP had contested the 2017 assembly election in alliance with the BJP and had won four seats. Om Prakash Rajbhar had served as a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet and was dismissed from the cabinet soon after the Lok Sabha elections in May 2019, for his “anti-alliance activities”.
The SBSP then forged an alliance with the Samajwadi party for the 2022 UP assembly election. The SBSP has won six seats this time.