Om Prakash Rajbhar's Morcha loses some friends

Lucknow, Oct 27 The much-publicised Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha (BSM) an alliance of smaller parties led by Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar is losing allies faster than it is winning new ones.

The Morcha, which won a new friend in the Samajwadi Party last week, is now losing old friends.

After the SBSP joined hands with Samajwadi Party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has quietly moved away from the Morcha.

The AIMIM expressed its anger when Rajbhar, earlier this month, said that he was no longer averse to an alliance with the BJP again. The wedge widened after Rajbhar allied with SP since Owaisi's disdain for Akhilesh Yadav is well known.

Earlier, AIMIM was one of the first parties that came together with SBSP on the Morcha and Asaduddin Owaisi and Om Prakash Rajbhar even started touring the state together.

Om Prakash Rajbhar is scheduled to host a mahapanchayat in Mau district on Wednesday where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will be in attendance.

The AIMIM will be conspicuous by its absence at the event.

The AIMIM leaders said that party chief Asaduddin Owaisi has not been invited to Mau on Wednesday. "Asaduddin Owaisi has a public meeting in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday. We did not receive any invitation for the event, and hence, our leader will not attend," said AIMIM UP unit chief Shaukat Ali.

Asked about the future of his party's alliance with SBSP, Shaukat Ali said: "Rajbhar has gone with Akhilesh Yadav, we have not. If Rajbhar can get us seats in the alliance with SP, then we will go. This is because our fight is for a share in power."

A senior AIMIM leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however said that the party will leave the Morcha because it will not ally with the Akhilesh Yadav-led party.

"Our leader has been speaking against the Samajwadi Party (SP). We cannot become a part of an alliance where the SP is there. The election is still months away, so nothing is certain," he stated.

SBSP general secretary and Om Prakash Rajbhar's son Arvind Rajbhar, meanwhile, said that the AIMIM was never formally a part of the Morcha.

Another important member of the Morcha, Azad Samaj Party (Bhim Army), has also distanced itself.

Azad Samaj party chief Chandra Shekhar said that he was never a part of the Morcha.

"I was never part of it, and the election is quite far away. It is difficult to say what will happen in the coming months. The SBSP has been with BJP in the past, and may again join hands with them. No one knows about them. We want to ensure an alliance against the BJP government in the state, and we welcome secular parties with the objective to defeat the BJP," he said.

The Bhim Army chief had attended a meeting with Rajbhar and Owaisi in September and the leaders had hinted at a tie-up.

The SBSP had contested the 2017 state elections as a BJP ally and Rajbhar was appointed a minister in the BJP government. He quit the alliance before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after his outfit failed to reach an understanding with the BJP on seat-sharing.