BALIA: Estranged BJP ally, the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President Om Prakash Rajbhar on Sunday said that the SP-BSP alliance was poised for a big win in the final phase of voting taking place in Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh).
He was speaking to reporters after casting his vote, along with his family, at the Mirganj Primary School here.
Rajbhar, who claims to have walked out of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh last month miffed over denial of seats of his choice in the state, has fielded 39 candidates in eastern UP, including in Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a re-election.
"No party will get a majority in these elections. In eastern UP, It is the SP-BSP alliance that will dominate. Without our support the BJP will suffer losses in at least 30 seats in Purvanchal. It is losing Balia, Gorakhpur and Ghazipur seats," said Rajbhar.
He predicted that the saffron party will only win 15 seats in the state. "The SP-BSP alliance will win 55-60 seats, while the Congress will gets 2-3 seats," he added.
Rajbhar, who has considerable clout in eastern Uttar Pradesh, asserted that his party has not campaigned for the saffron party in these elections. "We are not with them now. We only asked for the Ghosi seat, which the BJP did not give us," he said.
The SBSP chief, who has been playing spoiler to the BJP's plans in Uttar Pradesh,
last week declared support for the Congress candidate in Mirzapur and SP-BSP-RLD alliance candidate in Maharajganj and Bansgaon.
His new statements can mean trouble for the BJP, since Rajbhars constitute 20 per cent of the Purvanchal population and are regarded as the second-most politically dominant community after Yadavs in eastern UP.