SBSP to go solo in Bihar polls if BJP does not share seats: Arvind Rajbhar

A senior leader of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), on Sunday said if the BJP does not share seats in the ongoing Bihar Assembly polls, the party will contest the elections alone.

He also claimed the party has received an offer from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to contest on five seats.

Speaking to PTI here, SBSP's national general secretary Arvind Rajbhar, the eldest son of Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, said, "The party will definitely contest the Bihar Assembly elections. If talks with the BJP fail to work out, we will contest the elections alone."  Arvind Rajbhar also said he got a call from BJP national president JP Nadda on Sunday, where the latter inquired about the SBSP's influence in Bihar. He has informed Nadda that the party has influence in 32 districts of Bihar, Rajbhar said.

 

The SBSP has shared a list of 29 seats with the BJP leadership for the Bihar elections. Rajbhar said the BJP should let them contest from any seat from the list. He demanded the party be allotted five seats by the BJP as part of the alliance.

He insisted that if the BJP does not provide seats to his party, the party will contest the Bihar Assembly elections alone.

He also informed that he has received an offer from the RJD to contest the elections jointly.

Rajbhar said the Bihar unit chief of the RJD met and spoke with the SBSP's Bihar election in-charge on Saturday. He also received a call from the RJD leadership on Sunday, offering to contest jointly on five seats in the assembly polls.

Elections will be held for 121 seats of the 243-member Bihar Assembly on November 6, while the remaining 122 constituencies will go to polls on November 11. The counting of votes will be held on November 14.

The keenly-watched assembly elections in the politically significant state will see the ruling NDA led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pitted against Opposition Mahagathbandhan, comprising RJD, Congress, and the Left, among others.

It will also see poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party put to the ballot test.

In the incumbent assembly, the ruling NDA has 138 members, while the opposition alliance has 103 members.