Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister and BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya has said the Samajwadi Party is on the verge of a split, while BJP ally and minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who started off the implosion buzz, has dared Akhilesh Yadav to “protect his MPs”.
Seen in conjuction with the collapse of the Trinamool Congress in Bengal and the rebellion in Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of the Shiv Sena, the split claims on the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due next year, appear part of a concerted BJP attempt to systematically dismantle the Opposition and a broadening of the ruling party’s earlier stated objective of a “Congress-mukt (free) Bharat”.
Maurya told reporters in Kanpur on Wednesday evening: “There are 25-26 Samajwadi MPs who are ready to form a separate group. We are not behind this. Their MPs are unhappy with their party and are disillusioned as their future is dark.”
The SP has 37 Lok Sabha MPs and 4 Rajya Sabha MPs.
While the rebel Trinamool MPs have applied for a merger with a little-known party, the Sena (UBT) MPs have sought to join the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena that is part of the NDA government in Maharashtra. Maurya’s comments suggest a similar model may have been set in motion in Uttar Pradesh to break the largest Opposition party in the state.
“Team Saifai may suffer a jolt soon,” Maurya said, referring to the stronghold of the SP’s first family. “We are proud of Hindu unity and are getting ready to form a government in the state (for the third consecutive time) in 2027,” he added, giving a communal colour to his claims.
SP president Akhilesh, his uncles and party general secretaries Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav, and four Lok Sabha members from the family trace their roots to Saifai village in Etawah district.
The BJP accuses the SP of promoting caste and dynasty politics, and appeasing minorities. The SP traditionally counts Yadavs and Muslims as its core voters.
Rajbhar, whose Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party is an ally of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, had claimed before the media on Wednesday that Ram Gopal had submitted a letter of support to Union home minister Amit Shah. “The SP is on the verge of a split. Forget the TMC in Bengal and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, SP leaders are all set to join the BJP,” Rajbhar had added.
Later, he claimed that a Brahmin Samajwadi MP from Ballia would lead the SP’s “rebel faction”. Although Rajbhar did not name anyone, he appeared to be referring to Samajwadi MP Sanatan Pandey.
After Akhilesh called him a “rumour-mongering monster” and asserted that the SP was as strong and intact as ever, Rajbhar posted on X on Thursday: “Everyone has been asking since yesterday: is a split imminent in the SP? Well, listen to this! A son of Uttar Pradesh’s ‘rebel land’ will lead the faction of dissident SP MPs.”
Referring to an SP media conference held on Wednesday, Rajbhar alleged that Brahmins were insulted at the event and said the development had further strengthened plans for a split within the party.
“The son of ‘Rebel Ballia’ is deeply hurt at the way Brahmins were humiliated yesterday under the guise of a conference at the SP office,” he said in the X post.
“Those asking about a split in the SP should know that it will happen. Akhilesh Babu should stop doing politics through Twitter and media conferences and instead launch a campaign to protect his MPs,” Rajbhar said.
Shivpal tried to underplay the split claims and said on Thursday: “Our MPs are with us. Nobody takes Rajbhar seriously.”
Pandey said: “Rajbhar is known for his twaddle. Joining the BJP would be like eating meat.” Pandey, a vegetarian, boasts of his Brahmin identity.
‘Third front’
Swami Prasad Maurya, an OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh, has claimed that several smaller political outfits in the state are gearing up to form a third front because the people are “equally disillusioned by the BJP and the main Opposition Samajwadi Party” and are looking for an “alternative to support”.
“I met Chandrashekhar Azad on Wednesday and agreed in principle to form a front and bring other smaller parties with us. The third front will contest against the BJP and the SP and try to emerge as a force to bring changes in the lives of the people,” Maurya told reporters on Thursday.
Maurya held a meeting with Chandrashekhar, a Dalit leader and head of the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram), at a guesthouse in Naimisharanya in Sitapur district. Chandrashekhar was elected MP from Nagina in 2024 with the support of the Congress.