In a seeming crack in the Opposition ranks in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Presidential election, Om Prakash Rajbhar, a key ally of Samajwadi Party, on Friday evening attended a dinner hosted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in honour of NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu in Lucknow. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle and party MLA, Shivpal Yadav, also attended the dinner held at the CM’s official residence. Notably, a day ago, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Rajbhar did not attend a press conference held by Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary in support of Yashwant Sinha, the joint candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential poll. Rajbhar had claimed that he was not invited to the press meet. Rajbhar's presence at the CM’s dinner for Murmu came hours after he told mediapersons that he was “waiting for divorce from the SP”. “I will not initiate any step to end the alliance with the SP. I will wait to be divorced (talaq) by Akhilesh Yadav," Rajbhar told PTI before leaving for his party meeting in the neighbouring Mau district. Rajbhar also said he is "still with the Samajwadi Party, but will not remain together forcefully if Akhilesh Yadav doesn't want it." On skipping the meeting with Yashwant Sinha in Lucknow on Thursday, he said: "Akhilesh Yadav might have forgotten about me, so he didn't call me." Rajbhar, whose party has six members in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, said he will announce his decision on supporting the Presidential candidate on July 12. “The matter will be discussed in the meeting (in Mau) before taking a decision," he added. Others who attended the CM’s dinner included Jansatta Dal Loktantrik chief Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya, and the lone BSP MLA in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Shankar Singh, sources said. "By selecting a tribal woman for the post of President is significant. I congratulated (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji for it. It is for this reason that leaders of other parties who are not part of the NDA attended today’s event,” said Raja Bhaiya after coming out of the dinner. Recognising non-NDA parties’ support to Murmu, Chief Minister Adityanath said that he was hopeful that lawmakers would break party lines to back the NDA candidate, “just like in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh”. “Earlier Ram Nath Kovind was chosen as President, and now a daughter of a Scheduled Tribe has been chosen as a candidate. This can happen only in BJP and NDA,” Adityanath said, adding that once Murmu is elected as President, “it would make the entire world realise the power of Indian democracy”. Earlier in the day, Murmu reached Lucknow and met MPs and MLAs of the BJP and its alliance partners, seeking their support for the July 18 election. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his deputies - Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak - BJP state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh were among prominent BJP leaders who received her at Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport in Amausi here. Murmu, a former Governor of Jharkhand, was accompanied by Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to Lok Bhavan, where she was accorded a grand welcome by BJP legislatures and parliamentarians. Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal and Sanjay Nishad of NISHAD party, the two alliance partners of BJP in UP, were also present on the occasion. Murmu offered floral tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Lok Bhavan. According to a senior BJP MLA, Murmu thanked the party for choosing a tribal woman as a candidate for the post of President and appealed to them to vote for her. She informed them how she completed her higher studies because of her strong will and was now seeking their support for the election. With PTI
