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SBSP yet to take a call on presidential poll, SP gives ally a jolt
SP leader Udaiveer Singh denies any meeting lined up between SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav
LUCKNOW Even as Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which has kept its ally Samajwadi Party, opposition and the ruling party camps guessing on whom it will vote for in the presidential election, the Samajwadi Party (SP) gave it a jolt over a proposed meeting with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
SP leader Udaiveer Singh, whom the SBSP seems to be projecting as a mediator, in a categorical statement denied any meeting lined up between SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
As chinks appear in the opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the SBSP has been sending mixed signals on whether its MLAs will vote for opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha or ruling NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu.
On Tuesday, an SBSP spokesperson maintained that the party still remained part of the SP-led alliance.
Earlier, SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar had said he will announce the party’s decision on the presidential election at a press conference on Tuesday. But SBSP spokesperson Arun Rajbhar told newspersons in Ballia that a press conference scheduled for the day had been cancelled and the party chief will soon meet Akhilesh Yadav.
The SBSP said that on Saturday it would take a call on whom to vote in the Presidential elections, after meeting SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, said party officials.
Arun Rajbhar said senior SP leader Udayveer Singh had told the SBSP that Yadav will meet them in a couple of days.
The spokesperson suggested that the planned meeting got delayed in wake of the death of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s wife Sadhna Yadav.
“After having a meeting with Akhilesh Yadav regarding the presidential election, a press conference will be held in Lucknow on July 16,” the SBSP spokesperson, who is the party chief’s son, told PTI.
Arun Rajbhar maintained that SBSP remained an ally of the SP. “The SBSP is with the SP and will remain with it in the future as well,” he added.
When asked about a party meeting on Tuesday in Ballia’s Rasra, he said, “Discussions were held on expanding the party organisation. The SBSP chief said a meeting will be held (with Akhilesh Yadav) by July 16, after which we will make it clear who we will vote for,” said Arun Rajbhar.
However, amid the SBSP-triggered speculations of a likely meeting between Om Prakash Rajbhar and Akhilesh Yadav, SP leader Udaiveer, in a tweet in Hindi on Tuesday evening, said: “Neither any such meeting is proposed, nor did I have any talk with the SBSP over arranging a meeting appointment.”
Om Prakash Rajbhar had created a flutter in the opposition camp by attending a dinner hosted by chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow last Friday.
Shivpal Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), formally an SP ally, also attended the dinner hosted for Murmu. He has already announced that he will vote for Murmu. (with PTI inputs)
