Rajbhar Links Varanasi Result to Educated Voters, Dares SP Leaders
Ambedkar Nagar, 29 October: Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has sharply criticized the Samajwadi Party for drawing comparisons between the MLC polls and the assembly elections. Addressing the BJP's defeat in Varanasi, he said the result came from educated voters, while the common public remained at home.
Rajbhar said the true power of the electorate would be seen in the assembly polls, which he said would be a completely different test.
He responded to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's rigging charges by daring SP lawmakers to resign. He argued that if the SP believed its MPs, MLAs and MLCs had won through dishonesty, they should step down. According to him, the SP's stance was just talk because its leaders were afraid.
Rajbhar also attacked Rahul Gandhi over his claims of vote theft and his repeated references to ballot papers. He said the entire opposition was demanding ballot papers, but Congress had been left with zero in several states even in past ballot-based polls.
He stated that more than 14 lakh voters took part in the MLC polls and about 6 lakh people voted. He said the assembly elections have roughly 14 crore voters, and he expects over 8 crore to vote.
Rajbhar said comparing a huge assembly election with a smaller MLC contest was just a matter of individual judgment. He asked critics to study conditions in villages. He noted that in some villages only five, two, eight, six, ten, twenty or fifty people voted, even though voter numbers ranged from 1,500 to 4,000 across villages.
In his view, most ordinary voters who receive benefits from government schemes, including housing, toilets, roads, Ayushman cards, pensions and other facilities, were not voters in this contest. He said they would vote in the assembly elections, making the two polls entirely different.
Rajbhar said that comparing the MLC election with assembly polls had no real relevance from his perspective.
Referring to Akhilesh's comments, he said that if the SP chief claimed rigging, he should ask the winners to resign so people would know the poll was tainted. He said the SP's leaders did not have the courage to do so.
Rajbhar also highlighted the Gorakhpur seat, where the SP had fielded Sanjayan Tripathi and Rajeev Yadav contested as an independent. He said SP voters backed Yadav and left the Brahmin candidate exposed. He argued that Tripathi may have earned votes on merit, but most of the SP's votes went to Yadav.
He dismissed Akhilesh's PDA concept as Yadavism. Rajbhar claimed that Yadav candidates get Yadav votes, while other caste candidates are denied support. He cited the BJP's wins in Ayodhya and Varanasi, said Mathura was next, and recalled the SP's losses in 2017 and 2022, adding that 2027 was the next target.
Rajbhar also wrote a social media post addressed to Akhilesh, saying, 'Akhilesh ji, congratulations on your party's performance in the MLC results. Tell me, did you congratulate your friend Rahul ji?'
He claimed that the Congress had not even found a candidate in Uttar Pradesh and that the party's results were zero wherever it fielded candidates. He also brought up Karnataka while mocking Rahul Gandhi.
The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief questioned the Congress's claim of being the SP's big brother. He advised Akhilesh to remind the Congress of the MLC results during seat negotiations.
He asked why the Congress did not support SP candidates when they were contesting. He said the Congress demanded half the seats but offered zero support, calling it a huge injustice.
The MLC polls covered 28 seats across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. The Congress fielded candidates on 12 seats but won only one. Despite being in power in Karnataka, the party lost all four seats there. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also mocked the Congress on social media over its performance.