Om Prakash Rajbhar, ex-ally of Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, joins NDA in Uttar Pradesh

In a jolt to the Opposition's unity bid ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls, the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a predominantly 'Rajbhar' outfit and a former ally of the Samajwadi Party (SP), on Sunday joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The joining of the SBSP in the NDA came amid a renewed push by the BJP to woo the OBC leaders in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.

श्री @oprajbhar जी से दिल्ली में भेंट हुई और उन्होंने प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के नेतृत्व वाले NDA गठबंधन में आने का निर्णय लिया। मैं उनका NDA परिवार में स्वागत करता हूँ।

राजभर जी के आने से उत्तर प्रदेश में एनडीए को मजबूती मिलेगी और मोदी जी के नेतृत्व में एनडीए द्वारा… pic.twitter.com/uLnbgJedbF

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 16, 2023

Another OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan, an SP MLA, who had quit the Adityanath government alongwith Swami Prasad Maurya ahead of the 2022 UP assembly polls, also joined the BJP.

SBSP president and former UP Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar announced the decision to join the NDA after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. ''There is now no opposition in UP,'' Rajbhar told reporters here.

''SBSP and BJP will contest the next LS polls in alliance in UP...we have joined hands to fight for the rights of the dalits, women, farmers, downtrodden and other deprived sections of the society,'' he went on to declare.

भाजपा और सुभासपा आए साथ

सामाजिक न्याय देश की रक्षा- सुरक्षा, सुशासन वंचितों, शोषितों, पिछड़ों, दलितों, महिलाओं, किसानों, नौजवानों, हर कमजोर वर्ग को सशक्त बनाने के लिए भारतीय जनता पार्टी और सुहेलदेव भारतीय समाज पार्टी मिलकर लड़ेगी। pic.twitter.com/CDMXCc9EAM

— Om Prakash Rajbhar (@oprajbhar) July 16, 2023

It was not immediately clear how many seats the BJP had promised him in the 2024 LS polls but sources said that Rajbhar had demanded three seats.

Also Read | BJP steps up outreach to OBCs, Dalits with eye on Lok Sabha polls

Rajbhar, who was an alliance partner in the Yogi Adityanath government in its first term but later parted ways over bickerings on allotment of seats in the 2019 LS polls, also criticised SP president Akhilesh Yadav and said that the latter was not interested in the upliftment of the OBC and dalits.

''Akhilesh does not want OBC leadership to develop....he wants them (OBC) to remain loaders,'' he added.

Rajbhar's party wields considerable influence over the 'Rajbhar' (OBC) community, which was in sizable numbers in around a dozen districts, including Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ballia, Mau, Ambedkar Nagar, Ballia and some others, in the eastern region.

SP leaders sought to downplay Rajbhar's switch saying that the latter no longer enjoyed clout among his community members. ''Rajbhar is a leader who can not be trusted....he keeps on hopping from one alliance to another,'' said a senior SP leader here.