SBSP to ally with BJP for UP Assembly election

Ballia (UP), Jun 19: A little-known party founded by a former BSP leader, SBSP, today claimed that it has tied up with the BJP for the upcoming Assembly elections due next year in Uttar Pradesh and would contest 20 seats.

"I had talks with BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi on June 17 after which BJP has decided to ally with us for the assembly elections. The party (BJP) has agreed to give 20 seats to us," Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President Om Prakash Rajbhar said.

He said that on July 9, a mahapanchyat of dalits and backwards would be held in Mau in which Shah would also participate and the alliance would be formally announced. Earlier, Shah had sought a report in this regard from state BJP incharge Om Mathur, who had discussion with Rajbhar on May 24 and gave a nod to the alliance.

He claimed that the tie-up would "finish" Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in Eastern UP, where the Rajbhar community constitutes about 18 per cent of the population.

Rajbhar claimed that the vote of Rajbhar (backward) community was about 25,000 to one lakh in 122 constituencies of Eastern UP and would be a deciding factor in the victory of candidates.

He said in the 2012 assembly elections, his party contested on 152 seats in which BJP and Congress candidates secured less votes than party candidates in 26 and 47 seats respectively.

PTI