LS polls 2018: BJP will bear brunt if it ignores backward, says UP minister

Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Sunday warned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it will pay dearly in 2019 Lok Sabha elections if it ignored the backward and the poor.

Suhledev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president, Rajbhar warned its ally and said that it will not be able to win seats from Uttar Pradesh unless they deliver on their promise of providing 27 per cent reservation to backwards and most backwards classes.

Addressing a gathering here, Rajbhar said, "If you don't deliver, the poor will take all the benefits you provide, will take your money, but will not vote for you. You have to implement the 27 per cent reservation you have promised, otherwise, in 2019, your account will not open in the state."

Rajbhar also took the occasion to remind the BJP of the defeat it had to taste during the Phulpur, Gorakhpur, Kairana and Noorpur bypolls and said that if correct steps are not taken, the history might repeat itself in 2019.