Cracks in SP-led alliance, Rajbhar to support NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu for President

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, an ally of the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Friday declared that his party would support the NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu.

The party has six MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

Speaking to reporters here, Rajbhar said that he had a meeting with union home minister and former BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi recently. "Amit Shah had called me also and sought my party's support for Murmu.....the SBSP will support her," he added.

"Akhilesh did not seek my support....he did not even invite my party in the meeting of the SP and its alliance partners held a few days back....it is clear that he does not need our support," Rajbhar remarked.

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Akhilesh's estranged uncle and SP legislator Shivpal Singh Yadav has also said that he will vote for the NDA presidential nominee.

Rajbhar had been attacking Akhilesh since the SP's defeat in the recently held Lok Sabha bypolls on Azamgarh and Rampur seats, both of which were considered to be the bastions of the SP. "Akhlesh preferred to remain confined in his AC room and did not bother to campaign in Azamgarh and Rampur....I campaigned in Azamgarh out of coalition dharma," the SBSP chief had said.

Akhilesh, however, appeared to be indifferent to Rajbhar's threat and claimed that the latter had turned against him under 'pressure' from some "outside elements". "We do not require advice from anyone...we can manage without the help of outsiders," he had said.

The SBSP had contested the UP Assembly polls in alliance with the SP and managed to win six seats. The SBSP, a caste based party, enjoys support of the Rajbhar community, which forms around four percent of the electorate in the state, especially in a dozen districts in the eastern UP region.

Besides the SBSP, the BSP, which had one MLA and ten Lok Sabha members, has also declared that it will support Murmu. The Jansatta Dal Loktantrik, which had teo MLAs in the assembly, would also be supporting the NDA nominee.