Speculation mounts over Yogi-Rajbhar dynamics in UP politics

While Om Prakash Rajbhar has joined the NDA, it seems he hasn’t yet been able to establish a strong rapport with CM Yogi. The recent buzz around this issue is driven by an image that has been rapidly circulating on social media. The image depicts him standing during the inauguration of a digital corridor before the assembly session. Additionally, during the book launch of Assembly Speaker Sathish Mahana, Rajbhar was also seen standing on the sidelines.
A few days ago, Om Prakash Rajbhar had a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah. Following this meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted a picture of their interaction and welcomed Rajbhar to the NDA. However, when looking at the assembly session images, it seems that while the central leadership might have swept certain issues under the rug during the 2022 assembly elections for the BJP and CM Yogi, Adityanath hasn’t forgotten those issues. Notably, no tweet was received from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s side regarding this, although Rajbhar did indeed meet the CM.
During the 2022 assembly elections, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party. During this time, in the midst of election campaigning, Om Prakash Rajbhar targeted not only the BJP but also CM Yogi. People are speculating that perhaps Yogi Adityanath still has some reservations about Rajbhar. In reality, every word, every event, every step in politics has political significance. This is why people are expressing their opinions based on a single image. However, Om Prakash Rajbhar continues to claim that he met Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma before meeting CM Yogi. “We went to Delhi at his request. On July 13, the Chief Minister himself asked us to go to Delhi to finalize everything,” Rajbhar said. In UP, Rajbhar holds about four percent of the vote share. There are 26 Lok Sabha seats in 25 districts of Purvanchal, and Rajbhar holds a good number in 18 districts. Rajbhar plays a decisive role in determining victory or defeat on nearly a dozen Lok Sabha seats. The BJP had fielded candidates in 19 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections. Although the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party did not win a single seat, there were eight seats where the party was in third place. These figures suggest that the Samajwadi Party is not in a position to win alone, but if its vote bank aligns with a party like the BJP, victory could be within reach.
The monsoon session of the UP Legislative Assembly has already begun. This time, during the monsoon session, Rajbhar is targeting the opposition and the Samajwadi Party from the BJP’s side. According to sources, after the monsoon session of the UP Legislative Assembly, CM Yogi Adityanath’s government will undergo a cabinet expansion, and Om Prakash Rajbhar will be made a cabinet minister.