“Will Fight For Every Weak Section”: Ex Samajwadi Party Ally Rejoins NDA

New Delhi:

In the second jolt to Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party in as many days, a key former ally today rejoined the BJP-led NDA. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, influential among OBC voters in eastern Uttar Pradesh, announced it will fight along with the BJP for “social justice, the country’s security, and empowerment of those deprived of good governance, the oppressed, backward classes, Dalits, women, farmers, youth, and all weak sections of society”.

SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, who fought the 2022 UP elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party after quitting as cabinet minister during Yogi Adityanath’s first term as Chief Minister, tweeted a picture with Home Minister Amit Shah and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and BJP chief JP Nadda.

भाजपा और सुभासपा आए साथ

सामाजिक न्याय देश की रक्षा- सुरक्षा, सुशासन वंचितों, शोषितों, पिछड़ों, दलितों, महिलाओं, किसानों, नौजवानों, हर कमजोर वर्ग को सशक्त बनाने के लिए भारतीय जनता पार्टी और सुहेलदेव भारतीय समाज पार्टी मिलकर लड़ेगी। pic.twitter.com/CDMXCc9EAM

— Om Prakash Rajbhar (@oprajbhar) July 16, 2023

Amit Shah also tweeted the picture of their meeting and welcomed the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader to the NDA.

When asked about his earlier stand that if the UP opposition parties like SP, BSP came together, he would fight with them, Mr Rajbhar said he tried speaking to all parties but didn’t get a response.

“How many days was I supposed to wait? I tried to speak to all the parties, but there was no response. So, I decided to be part of the fight for social justice being spearheaded by the prime minister, the home minister, and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister,” he told news agency ANI.

Dara Singh Chauhan, Samajwadi Party MLA from Ghosi in Mau district, had yesterday resigned from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Mr Chauhan, also an OBC leader from east UP, was the minister for environment and forests during Yogi Adityanath’s first term. He quit just before the 2022 state polls, joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, and won his MLA election. He is also set to rejoin the BJP.

Mr Rajbhar is now expected to attend the NDA meeting on July 18 in what is being seen as a show of strength by the ruling alliance in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

OP Rajbhar’s alliance with the Samajwadi Party was considered an important reason for the BJP’s relatively dim performance in parts of ‘poorvanchal’ during the 2022 assembly polls in UP, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.