Journalism of Courage
A DAY after threatening to boycott the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, BJP ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) on Tuesday maintained that its MLAs would vote for the BJP in the March 23 polls, following a meeting with BJP national president Amit Shah in New Delhi.
On Monday, Cabinet minister and SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar had threatened to boycott the elections if Shah did not meet him, and his party had skipped celebrations of the Adityanath government in Lucknow.
Soon after Rajbhar announced his boycott, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna had met him and a meeting with Shah was fixed.
After meeting Shah, Rajbhar said that the alliance between SBSP and BJP will continue. “I am satisfied with the meeting,” he said. Asked whether his four MLAs will participate in the Rajya Sabha elections, he added, “I would have not come to Delhi if I would not have voted for BJP.”
“He (Shah) has assured that he is with me. He will come to Lucknow on April 10 and hold a meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey and state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal and resolve all my problems,” Rajbhar said.
Alleging that government officers and BJP leaders misbehave with SBSP workers, Rajbhar said: “I showed him (Shah) 13 videos. I have more videos in which police station officers, SDMs, CDOs and other officers could be seen threatening workers of my party, asking for money… and videos of BJP leaders using inappropriate language for my party workers. Amit Shah has assured to take cognizance of the matter.”
He also claimed that the BJP president has admitted that there has been a “lack of dialogue” from both Shah’s and the state BJP’s side. “He (Shah) has assured that he will meet us every 15 days and redress issues, if any.”
