Rajbhar's name should be Raatbhar as he thinks of switching allegiance all night Akhilesh

    Lucknow, Jun 28 (PTI) Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Saturday, saying his name should be "Raatbhar" as he keeps thinking about switching allegiance throughout the night.
    Reacting to Yadav's remarks, Rajbhar said whether the SP chief dreams at night or during the day, he will stay away from power for years.
    Asked by a reporter about Rajbhar's statement on two Yadav storytellers getting beaten up in Etawah, the SP president took the dig at the SBSP chief.
    In the intervening night of June 22 and 23, Bhagwat Katha narrators Mukut Mani Yadav and Sant Singh Yadav were allegedly tonsured and humiliated by "upper-caste" people in Dandarpur village of Etawah district because of their caste.
    Rajbhar had said about the incident that every community should play its part in the society and that Yadavs should focus on their traditional work.
    Replying to reporters' questions at the party headquarters here, the SP chief said Rajbhar's name should be "Raatbhar" because he keeps thinking about switching allegiance all night.
    Shortly after the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister made the remarks, Rajbhar said in a post in Hindi on X: "The SBSP is the door to power. Akhilesh Yadavji is desperate to enter through that door to gain power."
    "As long as the SBSP stands with the NDA at the door, power will not be destined for the SP," he added.
    Rajbhar said Yadav thinks all the time that if all the real PDA (backwards, Dalits, minorities) people standing with the BJP-led NDA switch sides, he would be able to come to power, "but whether the SP chief dreams about this at night or during the day, power will remain far away for years".
    Rajbhar, who has sometimes allied with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and sometimes with the SP, has a history of rebellion. He had allied with the NDA for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls but after the election, quit a ministerial post in the first government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and broke the alliance.
    He contested the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in an alliance with the SP, with the SBSP winning six seats. However, Rajbhar's alliance with the SP did not last long and he broke the ties and once again agreed to join hands with the NDA.
    He joined the NDA in 2024 and became a minister again.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)