UP polls race heats up as Rajbhar leaves door open for alliance with BJP; ally AIMIM fumes

In a fresh twist ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar hinted at an alliance with erstwhile ally BJP. A Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Cabinet until 2019, Rajbhar has been a fierce critic of the state government and the Centre after parting ways with the saffron party. After meeting UP BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh and the party's state vice-president Dayashankar Singh on Tuesday, he made it clear that an alliance cannot materialise until specific demands are fulfilled. 

Rajbhar said, "The BJP is keen to forge an alliance with us. They think it is necessary to enter into an alliance with us to form the government again. If our demands, including announcement of a backward caste person as CM candidate, a census to collate the backward caste population, 33 per cent reservation, common & compulsory free education are met, then we can consider an alliance."

The SBSP supremo is currently leading the 10-party 'Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha' which also includes Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, Apna Dal faction of Krishna Patel, Rashtroday Party, Rashtriya Bhagidari Party, Janta Kranti Party among others. Disapproving Rajbhar's comment, UP AIMIM president Shaukat Ali stressed, "AIMIM is with Rajbhar to stop BJP. If Rajbhar decides that the (Bhagidari Sankalp) Morcha will go with BJP, AIMIM's stance is that it will always remain on the battlefield to stop BJP. We will stop BJP. We will never ally with BJP". 

Om Prakash Rajbhar's thrust on UP polls

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. In the run-up to the upcoming polls, Om Prakash Rajbhar has been brandishing his credentials as a serious contender. Speaking to Republic TV earlier, he asserted that the alliance would win more than 300 seats and pitched a formula whereby a new CM and 5 Deputy CMs will be appointed every year. 

The SBSP supremo attracted controversy recently when he exhorted women to beat up BJP leaders during the Uttar Pradesh election campaign. Addressing a huge crowd of women voters in Varanasi, he urged them to pressurize the saffron party to pass a bill guaranteeing 50% reservation for women in jobs as well as Assembly and Parliament. He also warned BJP leaders of a threat to their life if they continue to seek votes without fulfilling the women's quota demand.