‘Most powerful in UP after the CM’: Om Prakash Rajbhar makes BJP uneasy with latest remarks

Citing the presence of Adityanath at the oath-taking ceremony, he told his workers, “Who is the most powerful in this country at this moment? PM, Home Minister. Om Prakash Rajbhar is directly connected to them. Who is the most powerful in UP at this moment: CM Yogi Adityanath. Saw yesterday he was overseeing Om Prakash Rajbhar’s oath-taking.”

Comparing himself to Hindi film villain Gabbar Singh, Rajbhar said, “Neither the police inspector nor the SP or even the DM has the power to call up the minister (referring to himself) … Gabbar samajh lo (Assume that I am Gabbar).”

While the NDA has yet to officially announce its candidate from the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat, Rajbhar went on to claim that the BJP leadership in Delhi had decided to give the seat and one more to his SBSP. Sources said Rajbhar plans to field his son Arvind from Ghosi.

Rajbhar, the Zahoorabad MLA, has a hold over the votes of the Rajbhar community in eastern UP and has had a hot-and-cold relationship with the BJP. He was part of the first BJP-led state government that came to power in 2017 but broke ties with the NDA before the Lok Sabha elections two years later. While he was in the government, he did not hesitate to question it or even sit on dharna against it.

Although Rajbhar returned to the NDA last month along with his five other MLAs after a brief time allied with the Samajwadi Party (SP) — the SBSP contested the 2022 Assembly elections as part of the SP-led coalition — many within the BJP fear they would have to face an even more aggressive Rajbhar this time who not only questions the functioning of the government but also openly flaunts his “power”.

His statement has again made many within the BJP uneasy as they feel that it leaves a wrong precedence for others to follow and also puts them in a spot with one of their allies declaring direct power over government officials. Though declaring a fight against the system is something Rajbhar has done earlier, declaring himself the most powerful after the CM in the state is a new move.

But BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi tried to downplay the statements, telling The Indian Express, “That is his style of boosting the morale of his workers. Whether in government or outside it, he retains that style, just as Lalu Yadav, Mayawati, et al, have their unique styles of dialogue delivery.”