"Baseless Allegations": UP Minister's Son's Clarification After Viral Video

A video of Arvind Rajbhar, son of Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, has surfaced. In the video, Arvind Rajbhar is seen bowing down on a stage at an event after being asked by Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak to seek blessings from the party workers ahead of the general elections.

Reacting to this, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhliesh Yadav, alleged that the BJP is forcing the leader of their alliance to bow down and apologise.

Arvind Rajbhar is contesting from the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming general elections.

Reacting to it, Arvind Rajbhar said that the opposition is making baseless allegations.

"...A video is viral on social media and the opposition is making baseless allegations that I was forced to apologise. Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak asked me to seek the people's blessings. I was seeking blessings from the party workers," he clarified.

"In any big event or even at my party's rally, I bow down to my party workers. The opposition has nothing left with them; it is just a start. They'll do so many things to break the confidence and unity of our party workers," he said.

He expressed confidence that the NDA would win all 80 parliamentary seats in the state.

"I received the blessings of NDA workers today and on June 4, again, the slogan will be raised, 'Ab ki baar, 400 baar'., we will win all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh," he said.

In a post on X, Akhilesh had said, "This is the arrogance of the BJP, who are forcing the leader of their own alliance party to bow down and apologize; this is the height of humiliation."

His post added, "The entire BJP party should collectively apologise for this misdeed. The BJP has insulted not just one person but the entire society to which he belongs. The Rajbhar community will vote against the BJP in protest against this insult and will uproot the feudal thinking of the BJP."

Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.

Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13. The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23 and June 1, respectively.

Nearly 97 crore voters will be eligible to get their fingers inked as polling is held for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)