‘Broader coalition of Opposition will win 70 seats in Uttar Pradesh’, says O.P. Rajbhar

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar on Wednesday said a broader alliance of the Samajwadi Party (SP) had the potential to win 70 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar on Wednesday said a broader alliance of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Congress, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the SBSP and other “Mandal parties” in Uttar Pradesh had the potential to win 70 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh but alleged that SP president Akhilesh Yadav did not want this to happen.

“I honestly want a broader alliance of the SP, the BSP, Congress, RLD, the SBSP and other Mandal parties like Nitish-ji (Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar) in Uttar Pradesh. If formed, such an alliance could win 70 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in U.P. but the SP does not want it to happen as it fears Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (I-T) raids, and is working along with the BJP,” Mr. Rajbhar told The Hindu.

The SBSP leader questioned Mr. Yadav’s trip to Telangana to meet Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K. Chandrashekar Rao. “How many votes will KCR bring for the SP in Uttar Pradesh? Such meetings on one side, and side-lining the BSP and Congress on the other side by categorically stating no alliance with the BSP will take place, signifies Mr. Yadav wants the BJP to sweep the State in 2024 polls,” Mr. Rajbhar said.

“The BSP has 13% votes. The Congress is a national party with sizeable presence in U.P. Also, we [the SBSP] have presence in the eastern U.P. seats. The RLD is a force to reckon with in western U.P. The SP should have aimed to form an alliance with these parties, if they [the SP] were serious about defeating the BJP,” Mr. Rajbhar said. An attempt by the SP to form a non-Congress front in the country with the BRS equalled helping the BJP, he said, adding, “Any national alternative is unimaginable without the Congress.”

When asked if the SBSP was planning to join the BJP-led alliance in Uttar Pradesh amid rumours of the BJP offering a few parliamentary seats to the SBSP, including the Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency and a Ministerial berth in the U.P. Government, Mr. Rajbhar said such deliberations were not taking place. “These speculations are bereft of fact. I am not going anywhere. As the SBSP is a force to reckon with in 31 Lok Sabha seats of eastern U.P., all major parties want to ally with us, but no such planning or deliberations are happening as of now,” he told The Hindu.

The political temperature in Lucknow was raised this week after Mr. Rajbhar, who runs the sub-regional SBSP having six MLAs, claimed on Monday that many SP MLAs were angry with Mr. Akhilesh Yadav and wanted to join the Yogi Adityanath-led government.

The SP leader and the party’s general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav hit back at Mr. Rajbhar, describing him as the BJP’s B team. They said the SBSP had always remained with the BJP.