BJP's nationalism pitch is a strategy to win the elections, Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said Wednesday, drawing a parallel with the alliance between the SP and the BSP, and the entry of Priyanka Gandhi into politics.

The chief of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, an ally of the ruling BJP, also said the country's poor do not understand nationalism.

"BJP's nationalism is an election strategy (chunaavi daanv). Similarly, SP-BSP alliance is a poll strategy and the move by the Congress to bring Priyanka Gandhi into politics is also an election strategy. Now whose strategy will eventually prove to be right will be clear on May 23," Rajbhar told reporters in Balrampur.

He was here to attend a private programme.

"How will a poor, who finds it difficult to arrange two square meals a day, understand nationalism. Nationalism is only visible when stomach is filled," Rajbhar said.

On Priyanka Gandhi joining politics, he said, "The entry of Priyanka Gandhi has enthused party workers, but Congress is not in a position to contest from Uttar Pradesh."

He said that most backward classes constitute 38 per cent of voters, and will play a crucial role in the election.

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