SBSP to contest urban local body polls alone; ‘No word from ally BJP’

The SBSP, too, alleged BJP did not respond to requests for an alliance. SBSP national president Om Prakash Rajbhar is a Cabinet minister in the state government.

SBSP principal general secretary Arvind Rajbhar said: “We have tried to fulfil the spirit of alliance. We had repeatedly sought time from BJP national president Amit Shah and state leaders to discuss the seat sharing issue, so that SBSP could contest the elections in an alliance. But BJP has not responded yet.

“SBSP had won posts of nagar panchayat chairperson in Ghazipur, Ballia, Sidharth Nagar and Deoria and municipal corporators in Varanasi in the 2012 local body polls… We wanted to contest on these seats this time as well… SBSP will contest on its own symbol on these and some more seats,” he added.

For mayoral seats, SBSP has fielded Pradeep Shahni from Gorakhpur — hometown of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Sources said Shahni wanted a ticket from BJP, but was denied.

In Lucknow, SBSP has fielded Savitri Devi Rajbhar, wife of party district chief Babban Rajbhar. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, the party has fielded Geeta Kushwaha, wife of former BSP leader Jagannath Kushwaha.

From Meerut, SBSP has fielded Nutan, wife of party state general secretary Satpal Rana. In Moradabad, former BJP leader Rohtash Sharma is the SBSP nominee. The party has declared candidates for nagar panchayat and nagar palika chairpersons in Ballia, Mau, Sidharth Nagar, Deoria, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Kannauj, Amroha, Sambhal, Moradabad, Badaun, Saharanpur and Meerut. It also declared ward member candidates for Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Mau, Agra, Lucknow, Bhadohi, Maharaganj, Ghazipur, Deoria and Moradabad.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) had decided to not to contest the polls allegedly because of BJP’s indecision regarding seat sharing. Party spokesperson Arvind Sharma said the party will follow the spirit of alliance. While Apna Dal (Sonelal) has one minister in the state government, its senior leader Anupriya Patel is a Union MoS.