Highlights
- SP-ally to support NDA presidential nominee
- O P Rajbhar's party has six MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly
- Rajbhar said the decision was taken after discussions with party leaders and office bearers
President election 2022: Samajwadi Party (SP) ally Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) on Friday announced it will support National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Droupadi Murmu in the presidential election. Rajbhar said the decision was taken after discussions with party leaders and office bearers. His party has six MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.
Om Prakash Rajbhar had created a flutter in the opposition camp by attending a dinner hosted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow last Friday. It signalled cracks in the opposition alliance and triggered speculation that Rajbhar could walk out of the coalition that fought the recent assembly election together.
Shivpal Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), formally an SP ally, also attended the dinner hosted for Murmu. Jansatta Dal Loktantrik chief Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya, and the lone Bahujan Samaj Party MLA in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Shankar Singh, were also present there.
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Chinks appear in the opposition alliance ahead of the July 18 presidential polls. Earlier, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren said his party will support NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu. It is to be noted that JMM is in alliance with Congress and has 30 MLAs in the state legislature. Yashwant Sinha, the opposition candidate, is from Jharkhand. The ruling party was in a dilemma whether to back the "son of the soil" or a "fellow tribal". Murmu had visited Jharkhand on July 4, and met Soren to seek his party's support. His son, Hemant Soren, the chief minister, was also present in the meeting.
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