Lucknow: Om Prakash Rajbhar, whose Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) has been a nagging dissenting ally of the BJP, announced candidates on 39 Lok Sabha seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
Talking to the reporters, Uttar Pradesh Minister and SBSP President Om Prakash Rajbhar said that he waited long for the BJP to share seats.
"But the BJP gave Apna Dal two seats and none to us. We have influence on 125 assembly seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh and there we will contest on our own," he said.
He admitted that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had offered him one seat but on its lotus symbol. "I am not going to finish my own party," he said.
Rajbhar announced the candidates against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Lucknow among others.
Majority of the candidates he has fielded belong to Rajbhar, Kol, Patel and Nishad communities - all of which belong to the OBC category.
The SBSP chief claimed that his candidates will dent the BJP's vote share as Rajbhar community has sizeable vote share in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
