Om Prakash Rajbhar meets Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, sets off rumours

LUCKNOW: Former BJP allyturned-rebel Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar on Tuesday sprung a surprise when he met UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh at the latter’s residence, stoking speculations about him warming up back to the saffron party in the run-up to UP assembly elections next year.
When contacted, Singh told TOI that it was just a courtesy meeting with Rajbhar with no political agenda. “We simply met cordially and chatted,” Singh said, refusing to divulge any further details. Highly placed sources in the BJP, however, said that Rajbhar seemed to get the raw pulse of the BJP which has been deftly ignoring him despite his consistent aggressive stance to finger the saffron party and sabotage its ambition of returning to office after the 2022 state elections.
The meeting between UP BJP chief and Rajbhar was catalysed by BJP state vicepresident Daya Shankar Singh. Sources said that Daya Shankar called up Rajbhar -- both happen to be residents of Ballia -- on Monday late evening asking him to meet Swatantra Dev.
Rajbhar confirmed that it was at the initiative of Daya Shankar that he met Swatantra Dev and discussed activities undertaken by their respective political parties. He, too, categorically denied having any political plan behind his meeting with UP BJP chief.