Bharatiya Janata Party’s sulking ally and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has raised fresh demand of five Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and has given an ultimatum of 24 hours to the ruling party.

A Cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, Rajbhar slammed the BJP for failing to decide on sharing seats with the National Democratic Alliance partners in the state.

“We are fighting for our rights. We were called for a meeting with Amit Shah along with Apna Dal (Sonelal) and asked to place our demands. Seat-sharing was decided for Apna Dal, but we are still in the dark. I have given 24 hours to the BJP to decide our seats or else we will chart an independent course,” Rajbhar said. 

The SBSP has demanded five Lok sabha seats — Chandauli, Ghosi, Ambedkarnagar, Jaunpur and either Machhlishahr or Lalganj (Rae Bareli).

“If Apna Dal (S) was allotted seats then why a decision has not been taken in our case? They (BJP) finalised alliances in Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Then why are we being kept waiting?” Rajbhar asked.

When asked about chances of joining the Congress, the SBSP chief said that his party could go “anywhere” as “all options are open”. The party’s decision to stay with the BJP would be revealed on Tuesday, Rajbhar said.

Earlier in February, Rajbhar had handed over the charge of Backward Class Welfare department to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In his letter to the Chief Minister, he had cited non-payment of dues and discrepancies in scholarships to students of backward castes as the reason for his decision. He had also dared the Chief Minister to dismiss him from the Cabinet.

The SBSP has been demanding implementation of sub-quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).