Om Prakash Rajbhar said no party "has the courage" to fight elections alone (File Photo)
Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an ally of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Sunday said the newly-formed SP-BSP alliance will put up a strong fight in this year's Lok Sabha elections.
"The country is witnessing an era of coalition, and no party has the courage to go to the polls alone. The SP-BSP alliance is a strong alliance, and it will put up a strong contest in the elections," Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister and SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar told reporters on Saturday.
Replying to another query on whether his party will go with the SP-BSP alliance, Mr Rajbhar said there was no truth in such rumours.
Taking a jibe at the BJP, Mr Rajbhar said, "The BJP feels there is a saffron wave across the state. The BJP is having the galat fahmi (wrong perception) that more than 60 per cent of the people are supporting it."
He said the party could see the result of this wrong perception during the Lok Sabha by-polls when it lost the Gorakhpur, Phoolpur and Kairana, and Noorpur assembly seat."
Mr Rajbhar also said, "If the alliance with the BJP has to continue, then there should be a division of reservation quota of the backward castes into three categories -- backward, very backward) and most backward."