Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar on July 3 said that a Maharashtra-like situation would soon emerge in Uttar Pradesh and claimed that several Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs and leaders who are angry with Akhilesh Yadav are likely to change sides soon.
Falling apart
“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 could change sides anytime, we may see them taking oath as ministers. Some want to become ministers, others want to fight the 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 in Lucknow.
He refused to reveal names. The SBSP chief added that Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary is also not happy with the SP president. “Jayant Chaudhary is also not with him now. The alliance of Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary has reached the verge of collapsing,” he said.
Prospective SBSP ally
On which group was a prospective SBSP ally, Mr. Rajbhar said he will talk to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati and try to form a broader alliance for the 2024 polls.
Mr. Rajbhar leads the SBSP, a political party formed in 2002. It enjoys sizeable support among the Rajbhar community in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The community constitutes four percent of the state’s electorate. The party has called for the inclusion of the community in the Scheduled Castes list.
The SBSP formed an alliance with the SP in 2022 assembly polls and fought 19 seats winning six but later broke the alliance during the presidential polls. In 2017, the SBSP contested the election in alliance with the BJP and won four seats.
