Alliance Woes Mount for BJP in UP as Rajbhar Decides to Go Solo

OP Rajbhar had insisted on using his party symbol even if the SBSP got just one seat to contest in UP.

(Photo: ANI)

The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an ally of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, on Monday, said that it will go alone in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in the state.

"The SBSP will contest the Lok Sabha election on its own. It will field candidates from 25 seats (in Uttar Pradesh) and their names will be announced soon," party chief and state minister Om Prakash Rajbhar told reporters at his residence in Ballia.

The SBSP had won four seats in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Rajbhar said there was a meeting on the alliance at the chief minister’s residence on 13 April, in which Union Minister JP Nadda was also present.

At that meeting, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had proposed to field an SBSP candidate on its symbol, which was disapproved by him, Rajbhar added.

He insisted to use his party symbol even if the SBSP got just one seat to contest.

Rajbhar Had Threatened to Resign

As per NDTV, Rajbhar had also walked into Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home in Lucknow at 3 am on Sunday with his resignation letter and demanded to see him. He was turned away saying that the chief minister was sleeping.

Following that, the Uttar Pradesh minister for backward class welfare and divyangjan said that if the BJP wanted to remove him from the council of ministers, it could do so.

The SBSP chief had also written to Adityanath a few days ago, saying he was “surrendering” his post as he was “unable to do justice to the portfolio.”

"The CM was sleeping. The officer on duty at the residence told me to come in the morning. In the morning, I tried to get in touch with the CM but he was not available," Rajbhar said.

"I have tried to explain to everyone including Amit Shah and Adityanath that we are an ally, if we don't fight one or two seats at least, what will I tell our voters? But they kept asking me to fight the elections on a BJP symbol. Ultimately, I told them to give only one seat but on our own symbol. But they refused to listen to me," the leader added, as per the report.

Meanwhile, Rajbhar’s son and SBSP general secretary Arun Rajbhar said, “The alliance with the BJP is for the Assembly polls and not for Lok Sabha elections.”

Sources quoted by NDTV said that the BJP was unwilling to concede five seats, so talks finally centred on the SBSP contesting from two eastern UP seats.

Informed sources quoted by IANS had said that the SBSP was in touch with both the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress earlier, which are trying to cobble together an alliance with smaller regional parties for the Lok Sabha polls.

Rajbhar’s Strained Relationship With NDA

Rajbhar has often threatened to walk out of the BJP's alliance in UP. As part of 2019 Lok Sabha elections reportage, The Quint had met with the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party supremo to understand his strained relationship with the NDA.

OP Rajbhar had earlier said that his party will contest independently if the BJP doesn't agree with their demand for five seats – and that if they make an alliance with other parties, then it is going to be on their own terms.

Rajbhar had also said that he is in opposition to the BJP government's policies and, citing Bihar and Gujarat as examples, questioned why liquor couldn't be banned in Uttar Pradesh.

Watch the full interview here.

(With inputs from PTI, IANS, NDTV)