‘Loyal to none’: Akhilesh Yadav tears into BJP over Rajbhar row

The rift within the saffron fold grew starker on Thursday, 4 September, as Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav launched a scathing attack on the BJP after ABVP workers staged a protest outside the Lucknow residence of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and state minister Om Prakash Rajbhar for calling them “goonda.”

Yadav also targeted the SBSP, remarking that the “misery” inflicted by the BJP on its allies has left them unable to face their own communities, rendering them “politically devastated”.

In a post on X, Yadav said the ruling party was turning against its own allies after fomenting clashes among its affiliated organisations.

"BJP is loyal to none… Till yesterday, its own 'Parishad' and 'Vahini' were fighting, and now the party is instigating demonstrations even at the homes of its so-called allies," he wrote.

The SP chief charged the BJP with fostering a “divisive mindset” that was splintering its own ranks, adding that its “money-minded” allies were beginning to see that while the saffron party might enrich them, it would never accord them respect.

"The BJP's strategy is to first use and then discard," Yadav alleged, adding that even senior police officers were shielding themselves by pushing junior personnel to face the "misbehaviour" of BJP's frontal organisations on the streets.

He shared a video on X where policemen were heard saying "bhai... bhai" to ABVP workers during their protest on Wednesday night.

Without naming the SBSP, which had contested the 2022 elections in alliance with the SP but later joined the BJP, Yadav said, "The misery that BJP has caused to its so-called political allies has left them incapable of showing their face in their own communities. They are unable to understand where to go now. BJP has ruined them politically. Their hands and feet have become cold and their faces have turned 'yellow'." (Leaders and workers of the SBSP wear yellow scarves, and the party's flag also features the colour yellow.)

Rajbhar, a BJP ally and cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, had recently courted controversy by describing the ABVP, the BJP’s student wing, as "goonda", triggering a protest outside his residence in Lucknow’s Hazratganj area on Wednesday night.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers allegedly threw stones at the minister's house during the demonstration.

On Monday, ABVP members had protested on the campus of Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University over the alleged lack of affiliation of a law course. Online footage showed baton-wielding police confronting demonstrators, including ABVP workers.

Several students were injured in the confrontation, and a glass panel at the Gadia police outpost was broken.

ABVP workers alleged that Rajbhar supported the police lathi-charge and called them goons. The group demanded his apology, urged the government to sack him, and also burnt his effigy.

In a statement, ABVP national secretary Ankit Shukla said, "ABVP strongly condemns the insensitive remarks made by Rajbhar against workers. Our clear demand is that Minister Rajbhar must apologise to the students and ABVP workers. The state government should immediately sack him."

Arun Rajbhar, son of Om Prakash Rajbhar, released a video statement condemning the protest. He alleged that protestors pelted stones, used abusive language, vandalised vehicles, and tried to intimidate his family.

"This is hooliganism, not student activism," he said.

With PTI inputs