Akhilesh Yadav calls on 5-time BSP MLA Sukhdev Rajbhar

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday visited five-time Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA and former Vidhan Sabha Speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar at his residence in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area.

In a blow to the BSP, Rajbhar, who represents Azamgarh district’s Didarganj seat in the Assembly, announced his retirement from politics on July 31, and said his son Kamlakant (Pappu) would follow Akhilesh’s leadership.

Kamlakant, present at the meeting between the SP president and his father, told reporters, “My father has been suffering from post-Covid complications since he got infected last year. The visit by Akhilesh ji was not political. He had come to check on my father’s health. We are grateful that he came all the way.”

Senior SP leaders said the visit was significant, given Sukhdev Rajbhar’s stature in his community in Azamgarh. “The visit sends a message to the Rajbhar community that Akhilesh ji is standing with them. All of us know that the BSP has disappointed many of its senior leaders, and hence the visit should help the SP transfer some of BSP’s votes towards the party in next year’s polls,” said a senior leader.

In a letter announcing his retirement from politics, the 75-year-old Rajbhar had warned that the Bahujan movement was weakening.