Another BJP ally leaves NDA; Om Prakash Rajbhar quits Yogi govt in UP

In the midst of Lok Sabha elections, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally on Monday claimed to have walked out of the Yogi Adityanath government.

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar told reporters in Ballia that he has resigned from the Yogi Adityanath government.

"I gave my resignation from the post of Cabinet Minister on April 13. The BJP has not accepted it as yet. I have nothing to do with the government now," he said.

The SBSP chief had earlier alleged the BJP was misusing his party's name and flag in the elections.

"Even during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's road show, the BJP used my photographs. I have filed a complaint in this regard with the Election Commission," he said.

Rajbhar has been one of BJP's most troublesome allies in Uttar Pradesh and has often criticised the state's Yogi government.

Last month, he said his party will contest the Lok Sabha elections in the state alone and announced candidates on 39 seats, after the BJP refused to give him seats in the ongoing elections.

Rajbhar said on Monday that the SP-BSP-RLD alliance would win more seats than the BJP in the state. The BJP was worried over Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's continuous attacks on it, he stated.

The Rajbhar community constitutes about 20 per cent of the population in eastern Uttar Pradesh and is regarded as the second-most politically dominant community after Yadavs. This region will go to polls in the sixth and seventh phases of parliamentary elections.

The SBSP had won four seats in 2017 UP Assembly elections and Om Prakash Rajbhar was appointed Cabinet Minister.