BJP may lose alliance partner in UP ahead of LS polls

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a caste-based outfit and an alliance partner of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh appears all set to part company with the saffron party.

SBSP president and UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who has been spewing venom against his own government for the past several months and cornering it on different issues, could quit the alliance in the near future.

According to the sources close to Rajbhar, the minister could make an announcement to this effect at a rally here in the last week of October.

Sources said that SBSP was likely to join the possible grand alliance comprising Samajwadi Party (SP), BSP and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

SBSP commands considerable influence among the 'Rajbhar' (an OBC) community, which forms a sizeable chunk of the population in around half a dozen districts, including Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Mau and Ballia, in the eastern region of the state and could impact results of around two dozen Assembly seats.

''It seems BJP does not need me. It has not fulfilled the promises it had made... I am ready to sacrifice the post of minister... I will never compromise on issues of public interest,'' Rajbhar said.

The minister had sharply criticised the state government after an Apple executive Vivek Tiwari had been shot dead by a police constable here a few days back.

''UP cops have been killing people in fake encounters in exchange for money... law and order has failed completely in the state,'' he had said and demanded a CBI probe into ''fake encounters''.