LUCKNOW: In a major development, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday sacked
Om Prakash Rajbhar
from the cabinet, triggering a fresh row between the
BJP and its erstwhile ally
Suhaildev Bhartiya Samaj Party
on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik accepted chief minister Yogi Adityanath's request and dismissed Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar from the post of Minister for Backward Class Welfare and 'Divyangjan' Empowerment with immediate effect.
The development came a day after polling for all the 80
Lok Sabha seats
came to an end in the state. The SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has been on a collision course with the saffron party after the latter asked him to contest the Lok Sabha election from Ghosi parliamentary seat on BJP ticket. Rajbhar turned down the offer and tendered his resignation from the cabinet on April 13.
While Rajbhar could not be contacted for comments, party national general secretary Arun Rajbhar accused the BJP of being a fascist force which could not think of betterment of people from the lower caste. "Had they recommended his (Rajbhar) expulsion from the cabinet, the BJP would have suffered a massive drubbing," Arun said, while speaking to TOI.
After turning down the BJP offer to contest on its ticket, Rajbhar had announced candidates on 22 seats while lending support to SP-BSP alliance on three seats -- Bansgaon, Sant Kabir Nagar and Maharajganj. Besides this, the SBSP lend its support to the Congress candidate Lalitesh Pati Tripathi on Mirzapur seat which was being contested by BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) convener and union minister Anupriya Patel.