Even as the BJP appeared to have settled its differences with its Uttar Pradesh ally NISHAD Party, the ruling party had to move fast on Thursday to contain the damage to its relationship with another coalition partner, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), and counter the Opposition that expressed solidarity with its leader and state minister Om Prakash Rajbhar.
The ties between the allies hit a new low after the RSS’s student wing ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) allegedly pelted stones at Rajbhar’s home in Lucknow on Wednesday evening during a protest against his comments labelling the outfit’s members “goons”. The Cabinet Minister had made the remarks after ABVP members were injured in a police lathicharge during a protest at a university in Barabanki. The students were protesting against alleged irregularities at the Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial University (SRSMU).
“Police ka kaam hai law and order control karna. Agar aap gunda-gardi karoge toh nishchit police karyawahi karegi (It is the police’s job to control law and order; if you engage in hooliganism, the police will definitely act),” Rajbhar told a news website, adding that the police first explain softly and then, if people do not listen, they use “kanoon ka danda (the baton of justice)”. This irked the ABVP, which gathered outside the minister’s home, burning his effigy and raising slogans against him.
SBSP national secretary Arun Rajbhar, the party leader’s son, however, alleged that the ABVP workers used “abusive language”, labelling the protest an attack on the “ati pichhda (most backward)” and demanding that the government take action against the protesters. The Rajbhar community, the SBSP’s core voter base, is categorised as an Other Backward Class (OBC).
“We condemn the lathicharge on the ABVP outside Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial University in Barabanki and also demand an inquiry into the allegations against the university. The SBSP has always stood with the students. However, strict action should be taken against those who pelted stones at the minister’s house in Lucknow at night, shouted abusive words at him and also manhandled a woman police official. No one has the right to take the law into their hands. There is the rule of law in the state. Those who break it should face action … It is the responsibility of the Government to protect their own ministers,” said Arun Rajbhar.
Both the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress said they stood by Rajbhar and targeted the BJP.
Calling the BJP an “exploitative party”, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said its allies should have realised by now that while it could improve their “financial condition”, it could never respect them as it works on the principle of “first use, then destroy”. “The BJP has politically destroyed them (its allies). Their hands and feet have gone cold and their faces have turned yellow,” he added.
The Congress said it hoped this episode would make the allies aware of the importance of “self-respect”. “Om Prakash Rajbhar comes from a backward community. He is a hardworking and grassroots leader. Last night, goons supported by the BJP pelted stones at his home … This is the status of backward communities under the BJP-led government.”
With the Opposition weighing in on the alleged discontent in the SBSP, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya met Rajbhar later in the evening. According to sources, the SBSP chief also spoke to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. After the meeting with Maurya, Arun Rajbhar claimed that there was a possibility that “SP hooligans” might have been hiding among the ABVP workers. “We have requested that these individuals be identified,” he said.
The SBSP leader also said that the minister had spoken to other senior BJP leaders and had been informed that action had been taken against the guilty police officials in the Barabanki incident. Government sources said three constables and a sub-inspector had been suspended. The ABVP had given the government 48 hours to act against both the university officials concerned and the police personnel behind the lathicharge.
Rajbhar and the SBSP have a history of switching sides before elections. While the regional party and the BJP contested the 2017 elections together, two years later, before the Lok Sabha polls, Rajbhar was sacked from the Cabinet over his criticism of the BJP leadership. The SBSP contested that election on its own but joined hands with the SP ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls and won six seats. However, with the Opposition failing to dislodge the BJP from power, Rajbhar went on his way after the election and formally rejoined the NDA in July 2023. Rajbhar was inducted into the Adityanath Cabinet in March 2024.
During a meeting of the BJP’s UP allies in Delhi last month, Rajbhar had backed NISHAD Party chief Sanjay Nishad’s call to gherao the UP Assembly over their reservation demand.
