Lucknow, 10 Sept (HS): Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party head Om Prakash Rajbhar expressed optimism on Sunday that he and BJP’s Dara Singh Chauhan, who just lost the Ghosi bypoll, will be appointed ministers in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet. On Friday, Chauhan, who resigned from the Samajwadi Party and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in July, was defeated by Sudhakar Singh of the SP by a margin of 42,759 votes.
The SBSP chairman, a renowned OBC politician in eastern Uttar Pradesh, was a significant campaigner for Chauhan in Ghosi, a Rajbhar caste stronghold in Mau district. When asked to respond to opposition leaders’ speculation that he and Chauhan would not be appointed ministers following the byelection results, Rajbhar responded, ”Why not? We’re going to be ministers.”
”These opponents are not our ‘maliks’ (heads). We are members of the NDA, and the NDA’s ‘maliks’ are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and party chief JP Nadda,” Rajbhar said. The SBSP leader advised opposition parties to be patient and wait a few days. ”They should look after their hearts since they could have a heart attack soon,” he warned.
Rajbhar intimated that he and Chauhan would be inducted into Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet following the SBSP’s readmission to the NDA in July.
When asked if the byelection defeat will have an impact on the SBSP-BJP alliance, Rajbhar responded, ”We shall stay with the NDA. ‘Our alliance is for the Lok Sabha elections, not the bypolls.’ Those making these claims (SBSP’s expulsion from the NDA) are uninformed. They (SP) will collapse after the 2024 general election results,” he claimed.
Hindusthan Samachar/Abhishek Awasthi
