OP Rajbhar’s meeting with UP BJP chief triggers buzz
LUCKNOW: An hour-long meeting of former Uttar Pradesh minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader Om Prakash Rajbhar with UP Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Swatantra Dev on Tuesday set off speculations about the likelihood of former BJP ally joining hands with the ruling party ahead of 2022 UP polls.
Both BJP and Rajbhar described the meeting as “personal” but it triggered angry reactions from the opposition parties like the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who claimed that the opposition leader who was busy cobbling together an anti-BJP front, was engaged in “double cross”.
Irrespective of the actual outcome of the meeting, political experts said that Rajbhar’s meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party had taken the steam out of the build-up of smaller parties called the ‘Bhagidari sankalp morcha.”
“In politics perception is stronger than reality. The meeting has given birth to mistrust among smaller parties that Rajbhar was trying to build together. For the BJP it’s a win-win situation,” said political expert Irshad Ilmi.
When contacted Rajbhar, sounded desperate to make it appear that the meeting was “personal” and that he would continue to fight the BJP.
“I have known Swatantra Dev ji for long. He is also a leader of the backward community. My meeting with him was completely personal. As for my politics, I would continue to fight the BJP tooth and nail,” he said.
He couldn’t explain the “personal reason” that made him visit key BJP leader, and which triggered the buzz of Rajbhar returning back as BJP ally, as he had done ahead of the 2017 UP polls.
Meanwhile, interacting with media persons in Varanasi, UP Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party vice president Shashi Pratap Singh said, Rajbhar’s meeting with UP BJP president was a courtesy call.
“He is the chief of SBSP as well as an MLA. He may call on leader of any political party,” he said, adding that SBSP chief told the UP BJP chief that social justice committee report should be implemented and free education for all should be announced.
Om Prakash is an OBC leader who belongs to the Rajbhar sub-caste which is strategically spread across several east UP constituencies.
After Om Prakash Rajbhar, with whom the then UP BJP in-charge Amit Shah had inked a pact before 2017 UP polls, fell out with BJP after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP propped up Anil Rajbhar as cabinet minister in a bid to groom its own homegrown Rajbhar leadership.
Former IAS officer turned BJP MLC and party’s UP vice president AK Sharma too had met BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sakaldeep Rajbhar in Lucknow.
However, party leaders admit that they haven’t been able to find a leader of Rajbhar community who could fit into “Om Prakash’s shoes.” This is exactly why the opposition
I have known Swatantra Dev ji for long. He is also a leader of the backward community. My meeting with him was completely personal. As for my politics, I would continue to fight the BJP tooth and nail
OP RAJBHAR, SBSP leader
leaders feel there is more to Om Prakash Rajbhar’s meeting with UP BJP chief than meet the eye.
“It’s strange that OP Rajbhar says one thing on one day and does something different the next,” said AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP and UP in-charge Sanjay Singh.
Congress spokesman Surendra Rajput felt that Rajbhar’s meeting with Bharatiya Janata Partychief didn’t inspire confidence (about Rajbhar’s antiBJP stance).
Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, however, cautioned against reading too much into the meeting.
“In politics, there are personal relations too. We are closer to leaders in opposition too,” he said.
“It’s also true that OP Rajbhar has been an ally of ours,” Sharma added with a smile.
In 2017 UP polls that the BJP had contested with SBSP and Apna Dal as allies, it had won the elections with 39.67 per cent votes against BSP’s 22.23 per cent, SP’s 21.82 per cent and Congress’s 6.25 per cent.