Amid ongoing political realignments and defections being discussed in states such as West Bengal and Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh has now witnessed a fresh political storm after Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar claimed that the Samajwadi Party (SP) could soon face a major split.
Rajbhar went a step further, saying that people should "forget Maharashtra and West Bengal" because the entire Samajwadi Party was ready to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."A major split is going to happen in the Samajwadi Party. Ram Gopal Yadav has submitted a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Everyone in Uttar Pradesh knows who the mastermind behind the mining scam and Gomti River Front scam is. As the noose tightens, the SP is getting anxious," he said.
"Forget Maharashtra and Bengal, the entire SP is sitting ready to join the BJP," he wrote in a post on X.
Launching a broader attack on the Samajwadi Party and its top leadership, Rajbhar said that SP leaders were growing increasingly uneasy as investigating agencies tightened their scrutiny in various cases.
Referring to the alleged mining scam and the Gomti River Front project, he said the people of Uttar Pradesh were aware of who had remained at the centre of these controversies. According to Rajbhar, political anxiety increases as investigations move forward.
His remarks come at a time when political activity in Uttar Pradesh has intensified ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with both the ruling alliance and the opposition sharpening their strategies.
Samajwadi Party responds
The statement triggered a sharp reaction from the Samajwadi Party. Party spokesperson Sunil Sajan accused the BJP and its allies of being rattled and alleged that Rajbhar was making such statements merely to stay politically relevant. He asserted that the SP had halved the BJP's strength in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and would "wipe out" the BJP from Uttar Pradesh in the 2027 Assembly polls.
Sajan also dismissed Rajbhar's political standing, claiming that not even a single MLA from his party would win in the upcoming Assembly elections. He accused the SBSP chief of making provocative statements for publicity.
Although he did not provide any new evidence or name leaders who could potentially defect, Rajbhar's remarks have been viewed as politically significant.
Rajbhar's controversial remarks
This is not the first time Rajbhar has targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. The war of words between the two leaders has intensified in recent months. Recently, Rajbhar wrote a lengthy post on social media platform X criticising Akhilesh Yadav's foreign travels.
In the post, Rajbhar remarked that instead of visiting London and Paris, Akhilesh could have travelled to places such as Kashi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Naimisharanya, or the Vindhyavasini temple. He argued that such visits would have boosted tourism in Uttar Pradesh and benefited local traders, flower sellers, sweet shop owners, small hotel operators and people associated with the transport sector.
Taking a sarcastic swipe at the SP chief, Rajbhar said that perhaps Akhilesh Yadav now prefers London and Paris and finds foreign tourist destinations more appealing than promoting Uttar Pradesh's religious and cultural heritage.
