Fulfil quota promise or else...: In PM Modi's Varanasi, UP Minister OP Rajbhar gives 100-day ultimatum to BJP

In the election year as the ruling NDA looks to strengthen its coalition power before the crucial Lok Sabha elections, its ally in UP, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party may become a cause of worry. On Thursday, OP Rajbhar, the SBSP chief and minister in Yogi Adityanath, gave a 100-day ultimatum to the NDA. Talking to News State, Rajbhar said that in case the BJP fails to implement 27% reservation, then his party will leave the NDA. He also said that his party will contest on all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh alone.

Interestingly, Rajbhar made these comments in Varanasi, which happens to be the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rajbhar also targeted the Uttar Pradesh government over the law and order situation in the state. He said that the UP government is sheltering the criminals. Taking a dig at the ‘gau kalyan cess’, Rajbhar said that in coming days, there will be tax levied on stray dogs too. Rajbhar is known for making such acerbic remarks against his government.

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The Backward Classes Welfare Minister had alleged that the Bulandshahr violence was a “pre-planned conspiracy” of the RSS – the ideological patriarch of the ruling BJP – in collaboration with the hard-line Hindu groups VHP and Bajrang Dal to disturb peace. “This (Bulandshahr violence) was a pre-planned conspiracy by VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS, now police is even naming some BJP members. Why did the protest happen on the same day of Muslim Ijtema event? It was an attempt to disturb the peace,” ANI was quoted SBSP leader Rajbhar as saying.

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Recently, during the VHP ‘Dharma Sabha’ in Ayodhya, Rajbhar had sided with former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and described the gathering of the mob in the holy town a "failure of the government". "The chief minister is interested in election campaigning at a time when Section 144 has been imposed in Faizabad (Ayodhya). This means that the administration has failed, and the Army should be brought in," Rajbhar had said at that time.