A day after Ghosi bypoll outcome, Samajwadi Party (SP) state headquarters in Lucknow on September 9 witnessed hoarding pasted outside declaring the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar, who recently switched sides towards National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as ‘spent force’ in the State politics, cautioning all parties about his utility in U.P. electoral dynamics.
“All parties be cautious, Om Prakash Rajbhar is a bujha hua kartush (spent cartridge shell),” reads the hoarding containing photo of Mr. Rajbhar. It is being displayed by Asutosh Singh, former State secretary, Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha, a youth wing of the SP.
Earlier on Friday, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also said, “In this, there is one MLA who won, but the losers are future Minister of many parties,” making an indirect reference to Mr. Rajbhar.
Mr. Rajbhar, who leads the SBSP, a Other Backward Classes caste centric party campaigned extensively for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dara Singh Chauhan in Ghosi under Mau district, having sizeable Rajbhar caste votes.
Also read | Om Prakash Rajbhar-led SBSP joins NDA
Despite the spirited campaigning by the SBSP chief and the BJP, the SP nominee Sudhakar Singh trounced Mr. Chauhan by 42,759 votes. Mr. Singh polled 1,24,427 votes against the BJP nominee who polled 81,668 votes.
The high-pitched by-election, held on September 5, due to Mr. Chauhan resigning as a SP MLA was the first contest in U.P., after the formation of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and the SBSP joining hands with the BJP.
The BJP decision to ally with the SBSP or bringing Mr. Chauhan, another OBC leader was seen attempt to bridging the weakness before the 2024 parliamentary polls in Mau and adjoining districts which come to fore in the past 2022 Vidhan Sabha and 2019 Lok Sabha results and a reach out to non-Yadav OBCs.
The SBSP, having presence in Mau, Azamgarh, Ghazipur and Ballia districts won all its six seats it won in 2022 polls from the region helping the SP emerged victorious on at least 20 seats. The SP-SBSP alliance won 23 out of 30 seats in the region. The BJP won only one out of four seats in Mau district and failed to win a single seat out of seven Assembly seats in Ghazipur and 10 seats in neighbouring Azamgarh in the last year Assembly elections.
