BJP hopes to draw support from the Rajbhar community for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections.
Highlights
- BJP partners Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party in eastern Uttar Pradesh
- S-BSP represents the Rajbhar community, spread over 122 Assembly seats
- BJP counting on support from Rajbhar to beat BSP, SP in 2017 polls
It was an unusual Amit Shah rally in eastern Uttar Pradesh's Mau town by any measure. The 10-odd saffron flags were nearly invisible in a sea of yellow as the BJP president arrived for a rally this afternoon.
Yellow is the colour of the S-BSP or Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party - a cheeky take on Mayawati's BSP or Bahujan Samaj Party.
Led by politician Om Prakash Rajbhar, the regional party represents the Rajbhars, an OBC or other backward class community, with a presence in as many as 122 Assembly seats out of about 150 in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The Rajbhars are part of the crucial 50 per cent OBC vote in Uttar Pradesh from which the BJP hopes to draw a fair share of support in the 2017 elections as it takes on both the Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's BSP.
A sea of yellow flags welcomed BJP president Amit Shah.
"The BJP and the Bharatiya Samaj Party will bring the
vikas rath to UP. In 2014, we got 73 seats out of 80. Then Rajbhar ji was not with us. Now he is with us.
Bhaiya Mulayam, please think what will happen now," said Amit Shah.
The Rajbhars derive their legacy from King Suheldev who ruled eastern Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich and is said to have defeated a Persian army in the 11th century.
Om Prakash Rajbhar, who lost the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls from Zahoorabad in the Ghazipur district, was very blunt about his demands from his new ally, the BJP.
"The owner of all treasures is Modi ji and the second owner is Amit Shah. I spoke to Amit Shah. He said that you partner with us, let us form the government and I will give you as much money from Delhi as you want," he said.
Apart from the Samajwadi Party and BSP, this time Amit Shah and the BJP are also facing a challenge from an unexpected quarter - that of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Nitish is from the Kurmi community, another OBC community with a significant nine per cent population in Uttar Pradesh.
In the last four months, Mr Kumar has held five rallies in eastern Uttar Pradesh including in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi.