"Not going to last": SBSP Chief OP Rajbhar attacks INDIA bloc
Oct 23, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 23 : Amid rising "tensions" within the INDIA bloc, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) Chief OP Rajbhar on Monday took potshots at the alliance stating that it is "not going to last".
"These are politicians and this is 'Neta-Nagari'. The alliance is not going to last. The reason is that people with different ideologies have come together", Rajbhar said while speaking to ANI here in the national capital.
"Everyone is distressed. Everyone is wishing to contest on more and more seats... This is the reason they are fighting among themselves..." he added.
Earlier, tension rose within the INDIA bloc as Congress's Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai asked the Samajwadi Party (SP) to withdraw from MP in favour of the grand old party as the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, he said, did not have any base there.
Ajay Rai said, "If you (Akhilesh Yadav) are a part of the INDIA alliance, then you will have to see what the situation is in each state. In Madhya Pradesh, there is a fight between Congress and the BJP, so SP should be supportive (to Congress). They had only one MLA and there he also joined the BJP."
In this response, the Samajwadi Party (SP) President slammed Congress leader Ajay Rai for suggesting the SP should support his party in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly election.
Akhilesh Yadav, upset over Congress "turning its back" on seat-sharing in Madhya Pradesh, said, "I want to tell the Congress, don't talk about our party through your 'Chirkut' leaders."
He further said he was unaware of the fact that the INDIA bloc has been formed at the national level to defeat the BJP and the alliance partners are not fighting together at the state level.
Meanwhile, SP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari on Sunday clarified that the mission of the INDIA bloc is "far bigger than the issues".
Several of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders also threw brickbats at the INDIA bloc.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader said, "It is a 'Ghamandiya' (arrogant) alliance. Neither are these people united in their thoughts nor in their hearts. It has been formed only due to fear of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is falling apart".
The INDIA bloc is an alliance of 28 political parties, formed to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
