,
Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav on July 4 described both the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) as the B-team of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He ridiculed the statement made by SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar that a Maharashtra-like situation would soon emerge in Uttar Pradesh with several SP MLAs likely to change sides.
“These people [Om Prakash Rajbhar] are lightweights indulging in small talk without any substance, whenever elections approach such people make statements aimed at becoming relevant and getting traction, these people always remain in touch with the BJP,” Mr. Yadav told presspersons.
The SP leader added he himself was in touch with BJP leaders, some time ago, but they were not able to shake him. “I was also in touch with the BJP until sometime ago, no BJP leader, big or small was left, who have not met me, but they were not able to shake me, as I am a socialist (Samajwadi). Now, we have a clear understanding that by uniting the opposition and strengthening our organisation, we will defeat the BJP in 2024 in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
On asked whether attempts would be made to include the BSP in the Opposition grouping in Uttar Pradesh, he said that they [BSP] were already in touch with the BJP. “The BSP is acting like the B team of the BJP, everyone is seeing it,” he said.
He refuted speculation of any rift between the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). He further said that once we have broken the BSP, we will break it again if needed. The political temperatures were raised in Lucknow after Mr. Rajbhar, who runs the SBSP, claimed on Monday that many of the SP MLAs are angry with Akhilesh Yadav and want to join the Yogi Adityanath-led government.
“The SP is on the verge of disintegration. Many of its MLA are angry with Akhilesh Yadav and want to join the Yogi Adityanath-led government. They can change sides anytime; we may see them taking oath as Ministers. Some want to become Ministers, while some want to fight Lok Sabha polls. They are also in touch with us (SBSP) and other parties as they are not seeing a bright future with the SP,” said Mr. Rajbhar, adding the RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary is also not happy with the SP president.
