Lucknow: Three years after leaving the NDA, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief OP Rajbhar seems to be showing warmth towards the BJP. He announced on Friday that his party would vote for BJP-led NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu in next week’s presidential election. The announcement comes amid strained relations between the SP and the SBSP.
Rajbhar, whose SBSP is in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, told ThePrint that it is up to the SP to decide when to end the alliance. “Let them decide when to end the alliance. If they say I should go with the BJP, I will go.”
Rajbhar is making Statement The alliance, including the RLD, performed poorly against the SP and its chief Akhilesh Yadav since the UP assembly elections held in March this year.
According to the SBSP chief, all six MLAs of his party will support Murmu. But the SP has said that its MLAs will vote for the opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Sinha had last week held a meeting with MLAs of SP and RLD in Lucknow to seek support for his candidature. Rajbhar, who was allegedly not invitedLater claimed that he was not being respected by the SP.
Meanwhile, the SP has expressed displeasure over Rajbhar’s decision to support Murmu.
Speaking to ThePrint, SP spokesperson Manoj Singh Kaka said: “He is saying that he is in alliance and also saying that he will vote for the NDA presidential candidate. What can be said for people of such double character?”
“We have enough leaders from backward and deprived communities. If he wants to say all this then the SP does not need such people. We only need people who can fight for the rights of the downtrodden and backward castes, not those who can sell the idea of justice for the communities.
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‘Yogi, Murmu sought my party’s support’
According to Rajbhar, dinner Organized for Murmu last week by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, where he was present, the two sought their party’s support in the presidential election.
He also told the media that apart from Adityanath and Murmu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah called him and asked if there was any problem (in voting for Murmu).
“Murmu” Yes She said that she comes from the lowest strata of the society and because I fight for the weak, I should support her. The same appeal was also made by the CM of UP. I told them that I have come alone among them and have not spoken to my MLAs and on the party platform. I informed (them) that our decision will be shared with the media on July 12 but Mulayam Singh YesThe wife died and we had to postpone it,” he said.
“(Later) Amit Shah called me and asked me about the announcement. I told him the presser was postponed. He asked me if there was any problem. I told him that there was none and I went to Delhi, where I met him. He repeated what Adityanath and Murmu had said YesRajbhar said.
When asked whether he was waiting for the SP to break the alliance with his party, Rajbhar said that no one can throw him out of the alliance.
“Am I the boss of my party or someone else? How will we work (on their agenda)? I have never worked on someone else’s agenda. I am on my agenda. Rajbhar also said that he is not working against the SP.
Rajbhar’s announcement of support to Murmu has raised questions on the vote of SBSP’s Mau MLA Abbas Ansari.
Abbas’s father Mukhtar Ansari, former MLA from Mau and another gangster turned leaderBeen behind bars in cases Lodged Against him, and his assets worth around Rs 200 crore across UP have been sealed or demolished under the BJP government.
ThePrint reached out to Abbas through phone calls and messages, but did not get revert. However, a source close to him said that if the whip is issued then Abbas is likely to go with the choice of SBSP as he cannot defy the party.
When asked about this, Rajbhar told ThePrint that he would issue a whip to party MLAs if they vote for Murmu.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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