Lucknow: Are Samajwadi Party’s pre-election alliance partners set to part ways?

LUCKNOW: Fissures in the Samajwadi Party alliance, that fought the 2022 assembly polls together, deepened further on Friday when SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav and alliance partner SBSP chief OP Rajbhar attended the dinner hosted by CM Yogi Adityanath in the honour of NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
If some recent developments are any indication, then a formal split in the SP alliance appears imminent and it is a matter of time before Shivpal Yadav and SBSP tread a path different to the one that Akhilesh had opted for.
Both Shivpal and Rajbhar were missing from the dinner hosted by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in the honour of opposition’s presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha in Lucknow on Thursday. While Shivpal maintained a studied silence over not being invited to the event, Rajbhar issued statements in the media questioning why he was not extended an invitation when another alliance partner – Rashtirya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary – was invited.
Sources in the SP said that the party leadership decided not to invite Rajbhar to the Thursday dinner hosted by Akhilesh in the honour of Yashwant Sinha following reports that SBSP chief was in touch with some BJP stalwarts on the issue of presidential polls.
“There were credible reports that OP Rajbhar had met a top personality in the government and a senior BJP functionary four days ago,” a senior leader in the SP, who has been interacting with Rajbhar since the alliance came into being, said.
According to sources, the SP leadership had more or less decided not to make any extra efforts to mend fences with Rajbhar if SBSP MLAs votes in favour of the NDA candidate.
Political observers are of the view that in such a scenario, the Samajwadi Party alliance will eventually fall apart ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“If for instance, the SBSP gives an excuse that they went with the ruling BJP in presidential polls to save their MLAs from ED and police as was the claim of some Shiv Sena MLAs in Maharashtra, in that case it will be clear that alliance will not survive till 2024 as ED and police will be at the disposal of the powers that be then as well. Then what is the point of continuing with the alliance,” the SP leader said.
Sources said the party was wary of Shivpal Yadav’s loyalties towards SP and would not be surprised if he finally switches sides before the 2024 polls.