Rajbhar ideologically close to BJP: Minister

“Rajbhar is an old ally of the BJP. He has been a minister in the BJP government. Prime minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath are taking his thinking forward,” Daya Shankar Singh said.

VARANASI : Amid reports of former minister Om Prakash Rajbhar cosying up to the ruling BJP, Uttar Pradesh minister Daya Shankar Singh on Tuesday said the SBSP president was ideologically close to the BJP. Singh was speaking on the sidelines of a children’s sports competition programme at the district headquarters.

Deputy Chief Minster Brajesh Pathak, along with Om Prakash Rajbhar, on the way to attend the first day of the winter session of the UP assembly on December 05, 2022. (HT File)

“Anything can happen in politics. There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. Decisions are taken according to the time and circumstance,” he added.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar is a strong backward leader with influence in eastern UP districts. He had fought the 2017 assembly election in the state as a BJP candidate and was also a minister in the first Yogi Adityanath-led government before splitting and joining the SP-led alliance in the run-up to this year’s assembly polls, in which his party won six seats. Since the BJP came to power in the state again, Rajbhar has been said to be showing proximity to the ruling party.

Besides, he has been openly criticising the SP leadership, also advising its president Akhilesh Yadav to go among the people and instead of doing politics from “air-conditioned rooms.” Earlier, state deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak had called Rajbhar “a permanent friend” and a “leader of the masses.” Pathak and Rajbhar had shared the dais in Ballia in October for the inaugural of a private hospital.

During the ceremony, Rajbhar had praised the Yogi Adityanath government, crediting him with the improvement of the state of government hospitals.