In an interview with PTI, SBSP’s national general secretary and chief spokesperson, Arun Rajbhar, stated that the party is actively engaged at the grassroots level and confirmed the claim for 32 seats within the NDA.
“I am focused on the Atraulia assembly constituency and will be the NDA candidate there. Initial discussions have taken place. The SBSP has asserted claims over the Mehnagar, Didarganj, and Atraulia seats in Azamgarh,” he added.
BJP state spokesperson Harishchandra Srivastava informed PTI that the NDA’s senior leadership makes decisions on policy matters after consulting all alliance partners. He indicated that seat-sharing arrangements would be determined through discussions between the NDA and SBSP leadership at an opportune time, based on mutual agreement.
Targeting the Samajwadi Party (SP), Arun Rajbhar asserted that the SP garnered more seats in the previous assembly elections largely due to the support base of SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar in the area.
In the 2022 elections, the SBSP allied with the SP and contested 19 seats, winning six. However, a few months following the results, Rajbhar cut ties with the SP and rejoined the NDA.
In the 2017 state elections, the SBSP contested eight seats as part of the NDA, securing four, including one by the party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar.
Rajbhar claimed that the SP would “face consequences” in eastern Uttar Pradesh this time, as he prepares to focus on Azamgarh, regarded as one of the SP’s strongest strongholds.
Om Prakash Rajbhar, currently the Panchayati Raj minister in Uttar Pradesh, has been consistently critical of Akhilesh Yadav in the lead-up to the 2027 assembly elections. He has challenged the SP’s dominance in Azamgarh, ridiculing the party chief for the “MY” or Muslim-Yadav social coalition.
Observers suggest that Rajbhar seems to be at the forefront of the NDA’s strategy to counter Yadav’s PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyank) by presenting a Hindutva counter-narrative. The SBSP leader is now taking a more aggressive stance on issues involving Muslims. Once a notable critic of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rajbhar has aligned himself more with the BJP’s Hindutva agenda, analysts assert.
Recently, the state Panchayati Raj minister made comments regarding the arrest of a “terrorist” from the SP’s stronghold, following the detention of Mohammad Sheikh, a suspected member of a Pakistan-based terror network in Azamgarh earlier this month.
Commenting on the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Surya Chauhan in Ghaziabad, which ended in the main suspect being killed in a police encounter, Rajbhar accused SP leaders of defending criminals and questioned if the PDA model created a scenario where “Yadavs and minorities would oppress others”.
Rajbhar’s discourse towards Muslims was significantly less confrontational during his alliance with the SP in 2022 and even in his previous stint with the NDA in 2017.
In 2012, he had contested assembly elections in coalition with Qaumi Ekta Dal, linked to the family of the late mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. During the 2022 elections, Abbas Ansari, Mukhtar’s son, contested and won the Mau assembly seat on an SBSP ticket.
Alongside his new political strategy, O P Rajbhar is working to expand his influence among other Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) in Azamgarh and surrounding areas, as political analysts suggest. He is likely to gain support from NDA allies like the Nishad Party and Apna Dal (Sonelal), which has a solid base among Kurmis.
The SP secured all 10 assembly seats in the Azamgarh district during the 2022 elections. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the SP maintained a strong presence in eastern UP, winning 37 out of the state’s 80 parliamentary seats, including those in Azamgarh, Ghosi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Salempur, Sultanpur, Faizabad (Ayodhya), Shravasti, and Pratapgarh.
Arun Rajbhar told PTI, “The SP claims Azamgarh is a stronghold of Yadavs and Muslims, but Rajbhars constitute the largest community there. Nishads, Chauhans, Pals, and Prajapatis also have a significant presence. Yet, to Akhilesh, only Yadavs and Muslims matter. Under NDA leadership, we are ready to break this stronghold, having worked there for the past three years.”
Further reinforcing the party’s current stance, Arun Rajbhar remarked, “The government has restored our ancestors’ heritage sites, forts, and ruins thanks to Om Prakash Rajbhar’s efforts. The fair at Ghazi Miyan’s shrine in Bahraich was halted. Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 14 prime ministers never acknowledged Maharaja Suheldev.
“Today, several schemes bear his name, alongside memorials in Bahraich, a state university in Azamgarh, and various other initiatives,” he elaborated.
He highlighted that the SBSP’s long-term agenda includes constructing a grand temple dedicated to Maharaja Suheldev and reviving a traditional fair in the Bahraich-Shravasti area.
SP chief spokesperson and former UP minister Rajendra Chaudhary, however, told PTI that Om Prakash Rajbhar’s rhetoric would “not make any difference”. “It’s well known who is behind these statements.”
He went on to say, “The strength Rajbhar gained in 2022 came from Akhilesh Yadav. His six MLAs won because of that alliance. Now, he seeks to appease his political superiors after aligning with the ruling camp and will soon become politically insignificant. He won’t secure victory anywhere, even in Azamgarh.”
Meanwhile, political analysts argue that the SBSP’s efforts could bolster the NDA. Rajbhar represents the Other Backwards Classes (OBC), believed to account for 10 to 18 percent of the electorate across nearly 100 assembly seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Varanasi, Vindhyachal, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, and Ayodhya divisions.
