UP BJP ally dares the saffron party to dump it

Hitting back at the BJP's Uttar Pradesh chief, a disgruntled Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party Sunday challenged its NDA ally to dump it for daring "to call a spade a spade".

"Why are you unnecessarily carrying us? If you have the courage, dump us. The government has no time for welfare activities for backward people, SBSP chief and senior UP minister Om Praskash Rajbhar said.

Peeved over non-allotment of an accommodation to run the party office despite BJP chief Amit Shah's assurance, he told PTI here that it was clear that the BJP was not keen on carrying us along.

We were also promised posts of chairman and two vice-chairmen in different corporations equivalent to the rank of minister and minister of state, but this too did not happen, he rued.

Hence, it is clear that they (BJP) are unnecessarily carrying us," Rajbhar said in an interview.

If that is the case, let the BJP dump us, dared Rajbhar, who is known for attacking the BJP quite often despite sharing power with the saffron party in Uttar Pradesh.

His latest outburst comes barely a day after UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, in an unusual attack on the SBSP, had termed Rajbhar a "necessary evil" and stated that comments made by the SBSP chief "should not be taken seriously".

Rajbhar, who holds the portfolio of backward class welfare and divyangjan empowerment in the council of ministers headed by Yogi Adityanath, said, "The UP chief minister in the past few days spoke against us. If this is so, then why are they not removing us?
Taking a jibe at Pandey, the SBSP leader said, "As per the UP BJP chief, more than 100 crore Hindus are with him. Despite this, they took out a motorcycle rally. Time will tell, how much support they are actually getting."
On his party's ties with the BJP, Rajbhar said, "A decision in this regard will be taken at an appropriate time. Time will tell that whether we are with the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections or not."
The SBSP chief also said, "As of now we are with the BJP, but we will continue to call a spade, a spade. We call a wrong act a wrong act. We are expanding our organisation. Let the elections come."