Bharatiya Janata Party’s former ally in Uttar Pradesh, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party is likely to forge an alliance with Samajwadi Party for the upcoming bypolls to 13 Assembly seats in the state.
Former Cabinet minister in Yogi Adityanath ministry and SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar on Friday met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and both leaders held detailed discussion over the possibility of political alliance between the two parties for the by-elections to Assembly seats.
Sources in the SP said here on Saturday that the SBSP has demanded three seats of the 13 seats, all in eastern UP, going to bypolls. The SP, however, is yet to take a final call on this matter.
Out of the 13 Assembly seats going to bypolls, the SBSP has demanded Jalalpur seat in Ambedkarnagar, Balha seat in Bahraich and one more seat.
The sources said that the SP leadership was inclined to concede only two seats to the SBSP.
During the 2017 Assembly polls, Om Prakash Rajbhar’s SBSP had won four Assembly seats, and the party had contested election in alliance with the BJP.
Rajbhars account for around four per cent of the total electorate in the state. The community has a sizeable strength in Azamgarh, Mau, Ghosi, Ballia, Salempur, Jaunpur, Lalganj, Ghazipur, Deoria and some other constituencies in the state.
Rajbhars constitute 20 per cent of the Purvanchal population and are regarded as the second-most politically dominant community after Yadavs in eastern UP
On the other hand, the BJP has been promoting its own leader from the Rajbhar community. Minister of State Anil Rajbhar has been promoted as Cabinet minister in the recent reshuffle in Yogi Adityanath’s council of ministers.
Om Prakash Rajbhar was dismissed from the Cabinet by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath soon after the Lok Sabha elections in May after he used abusive language against BJP leaders during the election campaign.
The SBSP, despite the alliance with the BJP, had fielded candidates in 39 Lok Sabha seats. Besides, Rajbhar had been critical of the Yogi Adityanath government.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav asked his party workers on Saturday to pull their socks up for the bypolls.
“People are now fed up with the BJP rule and we should aim at winning all Assembly seats in the bypolls,” Yadav said.
He also asked party members to get the current status of the schemes initiated by the SP government such as 1090 Women Helpline, Dial 100 service, etc.
