We have tied up with SP, but will not contest on its symbol: Om Prakash Rajbhar

By Vivek Tripathi

Lucknow, Jan 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President and a former Backward Classes Welfare Minister in the Yogi government, Om Prakash Rajbhar is contesting the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP). He says that even though his party has allied with the SP, but it will not contest elections on the latter's poll symbol.

He slammed the BJP government in the state for stealing the reservation of the backward communities.

Rajbhar in conversation with IANS, said the Yogi government has taken away the reservation of backward communities. Whether it is a matter of awarding scholarships or the recruitment of 69,000 teachers in the state, the Yogi government has taken away the 27 per cent quota of the backward classes and 22 per cent reservation of the Dalit community. The candidates under both these reserved categories have been beaten with sticks.

"These candidates tried to meet the Deputy Chief Minister, BJP State President but have been left dejected wherever they went and were met with sticks by the BJP government. After facing rejection, these candidates went to the National Commission for Backward Classes. Upon the investigation initiated by the constitutional body, it was found that the reservation for backward classes and Dalits was not implemented during the recruitment drive for 69,000 teachers. Following the probe, Yogi ji spoke about allocating 6,000 posts for the above reserved category. This proves that the rights of the people from the backward communities are being taken away."

Asked about how many seats the SBSP will contest in the upcoming state polls, the SBSP President said, "The candidates list will be decided by the party in a phased manner. Right now candidates have been declared from Sandila and Misrikh Assembly constituencies. My aim is to attain a recognized status for our party by getting 14 MLAs elected. Any candidate from my party will not contest the elections on the SP's poll symbol. I will neither do such a thing in the upcoming state polls or in the future".

Asked about the BJP calling the SP candidates criminals, Rajbhar said the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister themselves have a criminal-like mindset. After forming the BJP government in the state, both of them withdrew criminal cases against themselves. As many as 90 per cent leaders in the BJP have criminal cases against them. "Is BJP MLA Sangeet Som a saint. BJP leaders are imparted training to speak lies in Nagpur. When we (opposition) ask the BJP about inflation, we are called "anti-nationals". When asked about providing equal education for all, we are termed 'Bangladeshi'.

The BJP knows how to divert the focus from the basic problems affecting the country and the state, he said. The BJP practices politics of communal hate and is an expert at misleading people by getting their votes. When Brajesh Singh can become a Member of the Legislative Council, then why can't Khushi Dubey's mother Gayatri Devi contest the upcoming state elections, he asked.

Rajbhar said that his party workers want him to contest from the Shivpur Assembly constituency of Varanasi. There is also a growing demand from the party workers of Zahoorabad Assembly constituency in Ghazipur district that he must contest the polls from there. "Now consultation will be done with party workers. I will contest the elections from one Assembly constituency only. I am yet to take a decision on where to contest elections from."

The OBC leader slammed UP cabinet Minister Anil Rajbhar and said that the latter is a 'loader'.

"There is no truth in his statements. He did not raise his voice for providing justice to the backward communities and remained silent on the reservation issue. In Shivpur Assembly constituency, 90 per cent people are speaking against him. BJP workers too are not happy with him. He does not know how to speak. Om Prakash Rajbhar can contest from anywhere in the state and still win. But right now my primary focus is on Shivpur Assembly constituency."

Asked about the disagreements over seat-sharing between the SP-SBSP, he said that when greed increases among a person, he is unable to work properly. SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav has clearly said that wherever the SBSP has a strong electoral presence on the ground, it must field its candidates and contest from those Assembly constituencies. However, some parties demanded 40 or even 50 Assembly seats.

"What will we be left with if we give so many seats to other parties? Because of this the seat-sharing talks with many other parties did not work out well. The SP and SBSP had decided on allotting two Assembly seats to Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad. But the latter started asking for five seats due to which the seat-sharing arrangement could not work out well."

Asked about jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari or his family members contesting the upcoming elections, Rajbhar said he visited Ahmedabad and Varanasi to meet MLC Brajesh Singh and went to meet Mukhtar Ansari in Punjab and Banda.

"If criminal charges are registered against any individual, it is a different matter. The Election Commission has to decide who has a right to contest elections or not. If Ansari's family members try to meet us then we will consider all options. So far no one from Ansari's family has met us."

Asked about the ban on political rallies due to the third wave of Covid-19 and speaking about its party infrastructure, the OBC leader said that his party runs a bigger IT cell than the BJP. "Millions of people watch videos posted by me. The amount of poll campaigns the BJP does for a month, we complete in a day. Nearly 222 people are working with my party for the last two years. Virtual meetings and political rallies are going on continuously. We are not weak in any department as compared to the BJP."

Asked about the impact of former ministers from the backward community joining the SP, Rajbhar said, "When Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh, Dara Singh and I were in the BSP they were successfully able to form a government in the state and when they joined the BJP, the saffron party formed the government. Now when all of us have joined Akhilesh's party, so naturally an SP-SBSP coalition government will be formed soon. All those leaders who have joined the SP have got immense experience. If leaders like me were not capable then Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath would not have been with us ever. Both of them have been running from pillar to post ever since several leaders quit the BJP and are holding meetings to ensure all leaders within the party don't defect to other parties."

Rajbhar said that he has no problems with the new leaders from the backward castes joining the SP-led opposition alliance. "Within the BJP, the Chief Minister sits on the sofa while the Deputy CM sits on a stool. Is this the nationalism practiced by the BJP? Only the backward castes will respect the leaders from their own community."

Asked on how leaders outside the party came to inquire about the strife in the SP-led alliance, he said that there is no problem. "The people want change in the state. Those who have not done any work for the last five years are in fear of losing their Assembly constituency. The SBSP alone will win as many seats as both the BSP and the Congress combined."

Responding to a question, Rajbhar said that his party has worked for the last two consecutive years at the grassroots level in all the Assembly constituencies.

"We have trained our party officials and have cemented our place in the people's minds through processions, agitations etc. We have told the people that as soon as the SP-led alliance government is formed, a caste-based census will be conducted in the state in the next six months, 300 units of electricity will be given free of cost for five years and the old pension scheme will be reimplemented."

Source: IANS