Ally puts BJP on notice in Uttar Pradesh

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president and state minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is an alliance partner of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday put the BJP on notice saying he was "fed up" with the government and did not want to continue in the alliance.

Addressing his supporters here, Rajbhar launched a scathing attack on BJP chief Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and accused them of "backtracking" on the promises made to him.

He said the BJP government had not performed as per the expectations of the people and that he wanted to now break away from the alliance.

"BJP has been raking up the Ram Temple issue... we do not want temples and mosques... we want education and employment... real issues are being ignored," he said.

Rajbhar said that Adityanath and Shah had assured him that the government would provide reservation to the most backward communities but they had not fulfilled their promise.

Rajbhar, who was a Cabinet minister in the Adityanath government, said that Uttar Pradesh should be divided into four separate states to ensure its development. "UP will not develop until it is divided... we want the division of UP," he said.

According to sources close to the SBSP chief, he has been exerting pressure on the BJP to give a ticket to his son from Ghazipur or Mau seat in Uttar Pradesh in the next Lok Sabha polls in 2018.

SBSP, which has four MLAs in the Assembly, banked heavily on the support of the 'Rajbhar' (an OBC) community, which was mainly concentrated in around two dozens assembly seats in the eastern region of the state.