By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
Omprakash Rajbhar, a cabinet minister in the Yogi-Adityanath led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, hinted towards ending the coalition with BJP before upcoming general elections. Rajbhar, who leads the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party or SBSP, played a key role in helping BJP bag votes from Rajbhar and Schedule Castes communities in 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Rajbhar was addressing a public gathering of scheduled castes and backward caste communities in Varanasi — the Loksabha Constituency of Narendra Modi — who were gathered to demand a separate “Purvanchal” state comprising key districts of eastern UP.
The rally was held at chhota cutting memorial ground where thousands of supporters of SBSP and Rajbhar himself gathered with yellow flags, a mark of SBSP since its formation.
A separate Purvanchal state is one of the major slogans of SBSP, which has been raising the issue since its foundation in 2002. The party was founded on the name of Suheldev Rajbhar, an 11th-century king from Bahraich, UP who is said to have defeated Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud.
While addressing the rally, Rajbhar said, “Any community can only be developed if it grows in a separate state. Uttar Pradesh in itself is filled by millions of people, it is a high time that government should initiate the formation of Purvanchal state.”
“I do not care about being a cabinet minister in the government, but I much care about the rights of the backward and Scheduled Castes and their representation,” added Rajbhar while addressing the crowd in Varanasi.
Rajbhar – who has been very critical of the BJP leadership – accused the centre and the state of facing a failure in curbing the corruption. “If it was a Rs 500 corruption earlier, it has gone up to the price of Rs 5,000 in the government,” said Rajbhar.
The government has to declare its reservation policies before initiating any sort of recruitment process at any level, he added.
When this correspondent asked Rajbhar if he wishes to sustain the coalition with BJP during upcoming general elections, Rajbhar refused to give a clear answer. But he also said, “We are mulling over this thought, we are still in confusion about the coalition.”
The relation with BJP is a beneficial deed for SBSP. The latter was facing constant failure in the state at every level until it joined hands with BJP during 2017 assembly elections. But soon after giving BJP Rajbhar votes of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Omprakash Rajbhar has gone rogue against the leadership over various issues.