If SP ties up with small parties, BJP won't get one seat in eastern UP: Om Prakash Rajbhar

Lucknow, Aug 8 (PTI) Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar on Sunday claimed that if the Samajwadi Party ties up with small parties, then the BJP will not get even one seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh in next year's assembly elections.

Speaking to PTI, Rajbhar said, "The public is angry with the BJP. If the Samajwadi Party comes forward, and ties up with smaller parties and regional parties, then the election results can change." "If the SP ties up with the SBSP, then the BJP will not get even a single seat in Mau, Ballia, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ambedkar Nagar and other districts. There will be fight (with the BJP) on only two seats in Varanasi," the former UP minister added.

The SBSP chief claimed that of the total 403 seats in the assembly, there are 150 seats in eastern UP.

When asked as to which party in the state can defeat the BJP, he said, "People of the state feel that it is only the SP that can challenge the BJP in UP. The BSP too has started making moves, but the craze of the BSP is not as intense as that of the SP".

On being asked whether the SBSP has been unable to take forward the agreements with other parties since its formation in 2002, Rajbhar said, "When there is a clash of vested interests, people tend to go away. The smaller parties face financial hardships, and it is because of this reason that the bigger parties lure them. Coalitions have been breaking because of this." Rajbhar had on Wednesday said he will not enter into an alliance with the BJP if the saffron party decides to contest the assembly polls under CM Yogi Adityanath's leadership.

Earlier on Tuesday, the SBSP chief had met BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh fuelling speculations that he may again join hands with the saffron party.

The SBSP leader, who leads the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha as a political front of small parties, had earlier said his outfit could again ally with the BJP if it picks a backward caste leader as its chief minister candidate for next year's elections.

The party had contested the 2017 assembly polls in alliance with the BJP but parted ways before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Rajbhar-led party won four seats in the previous assembly polls. Rajbhar, who was cabinet minister, resigned before the Lok Sabha polls. PTI AR/NAV HDA