New Delhi: Deriding the entry of Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) into the Bihar electoral arena, Uttar Pradesh Minister O.P. Rajbhar on Friday said it has become the B-team of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and is helping it win elections from UP to Delhi to Bihar, apparently on the back of its own failings.
The SP supremo, Akhilesh Yadav, recently joined the last leg of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, led by Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, attacking the Nitish government over unemployment and poverty despite being in power for two decades. The trio also spotlighted ‘vote theft’ as highlighted by the Congress MP, in a special press conference and sought to galvanise public support.
Replying to Akhilesh Yadav’s PDA pitch in Bihar polls, O.P. Rajbhar said, “The party claiming itself to be champion of PDA (Pichda, Dalit and Alpasankhyak) has suffered a string of electoral defeats in Uttar Pradesh, including in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024. Now, they are going to Bihar to rally support for the INDIA block. They are caught up in their own web of lies and deceits.”
Rajbhar, also the national president of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an ally of NDA, further claimed that the SP was behaving as the latter’s B-team as it was helping it win elections from UP to Delhi to Bihar.
“They went to Madhya Pradesh, called the Congress party corrupt and asked its supporters not to vote for it as they accused it of deceiving them. Now they are going to Bihar to support the same party. They have rather become the B-team of NDA, helping them win elections after elections,” he added.
He said that the SP also ruined the INDIA bloc’s prospects in Delhi, and their next stop is Bihar.
The 16-day Voter Adhikar Yatra, helmed by Mahagathbandhan (Congress-RJD-Left), culminated in Patna on September 1, and saw a considerable show of strength with many constituents of the INDIA bloc, including SP president, throwing their weight behind the Opposition camp.
On questions of contesting Bihar elections, the SBSP chief said that his party will join the electoral fray as part of the NDA and talks regarding seat-sharing have already taken place with top leaders, including Amit Shah, J.P. Nadda and the BJP’s state unit heads.
(IANS)
