If SP ties up with small parties, BJP won't get one seat in eastern UP: Om Prakash Rajbhar
Lucknow(PTI): Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar on Sunday claimed that if the Samajwadi Party ties up with small parties, then the BJP will not get even one seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh in next year's assembly elections.
Speaking to PTI, Rajbhar said, "The public is angry with the BJP. If the Samajwadi Party comes forward, and ties up with smaller parties and regional parties, then the election results can change."
"If the SP ties up with the SBSP, then the BJP will not get even a single seat in Mau, Ballia, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ambedkar Nagar and other districts. There will be fight (with the BJP) on only two seats in Varanasi," the former UP minister added.
The SBSP chief claimed that of the total 403 seats in the assembly, there are 150 seats in eastern UP.
When asked as to which party in the state can defeat the BJP, he said, "People of the state feel that it is only the SP that can challenge the BJP in UP. The BSP too has started making moves, but the craze of the BSP is not as intense as that of the SP".
On being asked whether the SBSP has been unable to take forward the agreements with other parties since its formation in 2002, Rajbhar said, "When there is a clash of vested interests, people tend to go away. The smaller parties face financial hardships, and it is because of this reason that the bigger parties lure them. Coalitions have been breaking because of this."
Rajbhar had on Wednesday said he will not enter into an alliance with the BJP if the saffron party decides to contest the assembly polls under CM Yogi Adityanath's leadership.
Earlier on Tuesday, the SBSP chief had met BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh fuelling speculations that he may again join hands with the saffron party.
The SBSP leader, who leads the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha as a political front of small parties, had earlier said his outfit could again ally with the BJP if it picks a backward caste leader as its chief minister candidate for next year's elections.
The party had contested the 2017 assembly polls in alliance with the BJP but parted ways before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Rajbhar-led party won four seats in the previous assembly polls. Rajbhar, who was cabinet minister, resigned before the Lok Sabha polls.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
