Cracks in opposition ranks, Rajbhar to vote for Murmu

Lucknow, Jul 9: In a seeming crack in the Opposition ranks in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Presidential election, Om Prakash Rajbhar, a key ally of the Samajwadi Party, on Friday evening attended a dinner hosted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in honor of NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu in Lucknow.

 

 

 

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle and party MLA, Shivpal Yadav, also attended the dinner held at the CM’s official residence.

 

 

 

Notably, a day ago, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Rajbhar did not attend a press conference held by Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary in support of Yashwant Sinha, the joint candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential poll. Rajbhar had claimed that he was not invited to the press meet. Rajbhar’s presence at the CM’s dinner for Murmu came hours after he told media persons that he was “waiting for divorce from the SP”. “I will not initiate any step to end the alliance with the SP. I will wait to be divorced (talaq) by Akhilesh Yadav,” Rajbhar told PTI before leaving for his party meeting in the neighboring Mau district. Rajbhar also said he is “still with the Samajwadi Party, but will not remain together forcefully if Akhilesh Yadav doesn’t want it.” On skipping the meeting with Yashwant Sinha in Lucknow on Thursday, he said: “Akhilesh Yadav might have forgotten about me, so he didn’t call me.” Rajbhar, whose party has six members in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, said he will announce his decision on supporting the Presidential candidate on July 12. “The matter will be discussed in the meeting (in Mau) before taking a decision,” he added. Others who attended the CM’s dinner included Jansatta Dal Loktantrik chief Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya, and the lone BSP MLA in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Shankar Singh, sources said. “By selecting a tribal woman for the post of President is significant. I congratulated (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji for it. It is for this reason that leaders of other parties who are not part of the NDA attended today’s event,” said Raja Bhaiya after coming out of the dinner.

 

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Recognizing non-NDA parties’ support for Murmu, Chief Minister Adityanath said that he was hopeful that lawmakers would break party lines to back the NDA candidate, “just like in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh”. Earlier in the day, Murmu reached Lucknow and met MPs and MLAs of the BJP and its alliance partners, seeking their support for the July 18 election.