SBSP Chief Rajbhar Quits UP Govt, Says Had Resigned on 13 April

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar claimed on Monday, 6 May, that he has resigned from the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh. He added that it was up to the BJP to decide on it.

“I tendered resignation as minister on 13 April. It is up to the BJP to decide whether to accept or reject it,” Rajbhar, a cabinet minister in the UP government, told reporters here.

“I have nothing to do with the government now,” he said.

The SBSP chief alleged the BJP was misusing his party’s name and flag in the election campaign.

“Even during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow, they were used. I have filed a complaint in this regard with the Election Commission,” Rajbhar said.

Rajbhar Has Often Criticised BJP

Rajbhar has often publicly criticised the BJP, its ally in Uttar Pradesh.

Last month, he said his party will contest the Lok Sabha election in the state alone and announced candidates on 39 seats, prompting BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to say that “Rajbhar has has been with the BJP and will remain with it”.

But he has continued with his criticism of the BJP, alleging it was trying to weaken his party.

On Monday, the SBSP chief claimed the SP-BSP-RLD alliance will win more seats than BJP in the state. He also claimed that the BJP was worried over Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's continuous attacks on it.

Rajbhar has fielded candidates on some 40 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state after he failed to have an understanding with the BJP for Lok Sabha polls and has made adverse comments against the bigger NDA partner.

BJP-SBSP Tied Up Ahead of 2017 Assembly Elections

The BJP tied up with SBSP in the run up to the 2017 Assembly elections. The SBSP won four seats of the eight seats it had contested. But trouble started brewing after Rajbhar claimed that Yogi Adityanath-led UP government was neglecting his party.

The Rajbhars constitute 20 percent of the Purvanchal population and are regarded as the second-most politically dominant community after Yadavs in eastern UP, parts of which will vote during the sixth and seventh phase polls on 12 May and 19, respectively.

Rajbhar had said the BJP was under an impression it could win all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state and 400 seats in the country “but the reality will dawn on May 23”.