‘After TMC, Maharashtra, it is UP’s turn’: How an NDA ally remark sparked a row

Following a split in the TMC parliamentary party and ongoing crisis in Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday dismissed NDA ally SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar’s claim that the Samajwadi Party (SP) could be the next Opposition party to face a split in Parliament.
Akhilesh told mediapersons in Lucknow that his party remains strong while the BJP has a history of “engineering” defections through inducements and pressure.
“This is how the BJP operates and has split several parties already. In UP, they had poached several MLAs, MLCs, and Rajya Sabha MPs. Whether these leaders left due to selfishness, greed, or fear is a different matter. To take on the BJP, you need a team of brave people, and the SP is ready,” Akhilesh said.
“The SP remains united. It weathered many ups and downs in its journey. It is a strong party, and it remains so,” he said.
Later in a post on X, Akhilesh, without naming Rajbhar, wrote “fortune-tellers” should first reveal how many seats the BJP was offering them—”75, 50, or merely assurances?”. He also alleged that some leaders had taken money from ticket aspirants after claiming they would secure around 30 seats through an alliance with the BJP.
He went a step further, claiming that dissatisfaction exists within the BJP itself and suggesting that some BJP legislators could switch sides in the future.
A senior SP leader said Rajbhar’s remarks were an attempt to spread rumours and create confusion.
The leader argued that the SP had already survived its biggest internal test during the 2016-17 family feud, when a bitter power struggle between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav threatened to split the party before the 2017 Assembly elections. Shivpal is now again with the SP.
“The SP has already gone through the test of a split. In many ways, it was among the first major Opposition parties to experience what we call the BJP’s divisive politics. Today, the party is stronger and more united than before. These statements are being made because the BJP sees SP as its strongest challenger in UP,” the leader said.
Earlier in the day, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Rajbhar claimed that the Samajwadi Party (SP) could be the next Opposition party to face a split and alleged that senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah with a list of SP leaders willing to join the BJP in exchange for relief in cases linked to the alleged sand mining scam and Gomti Riverfront project under the Akhilesh Yadav-led government between 2012 and 2017.
“TMC dekha aapne, Maharashtra ki charcha kar rahe hain, ab number hai UP ka (You saw the crisis in the TMC and the issue in Maharashtra, now it is UP’s turn),” Rajbhar said, before alleging that Ram Gopal Yadav had offered a list of leaders who could switch sides if investigations against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and others were eased.
The explosive charge, made without offering any evidence, generated discussion in political circles, not because of its factual basis but because it touched a nerve in UP politics – the persistent fear of defections and political realignments among Opposition parties.
Later, Rajbhar, in a series of posts on X, said Akhilesh should worry about the turmoil within his own party and reiterated his claim that revelations linked to the alleged mining scam and Gomti Riverfront project would trigger a “political earthquake”.

Why Rajbhar’s remarks matter

Rajbhar’s statement comes at a time when the BJP and the SP have effectively begun positioning themselves for the 2027 Assembly elections. The SP emerged as the principal Opposition force after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning 37 of the state’s 80 seats and significantly improving its political standing in alliance with the Congress.
With the Mayawati-led BSP weakened and the Congress still lacking an independent organisational base in UP, the SP has become the BJP’s primary challenger. Political observers note that this has also made it the principal target of political attacks from BJP leaders and allies.
Rajbhar’s remark is significant because it seeks to create a perception of instability within the SP at a time when Akhilesh Yadav has been projecting organisational unity and attempting to consolidate the party’s gains among Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Dalits and Muslims.

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The larger political message

Party leaders claim that for Rajbhar, whose political relevance has historically rested on his ability to influence sections of the non-Yadav OBC vote, the statement also serves the purpose of reinforcing his value within the NDA by aggressively targeting the BJP’s principal opponent. His party had recently made a claim to contest over 30 Assembly seats in UP’s 2027 elections in alliance with the NDA.

“His remarks mirror a broader BJP narrative that Opposition parties are inherently unstable and driven by individual ambitions rather than ideology. By invoking Maharashtra – where splits reshaped both the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – Rajbhar attempted to place the SP within a national pattern of Opposition fragmentation. Irrespective of whether such a scenario is remotely possible in UP or not,” said an SP leader.

He claimed that unlike regional parties built around multiple power centres, the SP’s power centre remains Akhilesh Yadav, with few leaders possessing an independent organisational base large enough to trigger a significant split.

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While UP has witnessed leaders switching parties in the past, sources say that at present, Rajbhar’s claims appear less about an imminent rebellion and more about political messaging – raising questions about Opposition unity, aiming to blunt the momentum gained by the SP after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This has given the SP an additional consideration ahead of the 2027 polls to refute such claims and maintain the image of a cohesive organisation capable of challenging the BJP.