OBC leader Rajbhar meets Amit Shah, joins NDA
New Delhi, Jul 16: In a boost to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, OBC leader Om Prakash Rajbhar announced on Sunday his return to the ruling National Democratic Alliance following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah.
Shah on Sunday tweeted a picture of their meeting and welcomed the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) founder-leader to the NDA. Rajbhar was accompanied by his son Arvind Rajbhar.
O P Rajbhar said both parties will fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders, including Shah.
The home minister, who has been the key BJP minder on its political manoeuvres in Uttar Pradesh, said his entry will strengthen the NDA in the state and further boost its efforts under Modi for the welfare of the poor and deprived.
In a tweet, Rajbhar said, "The BJP and the SBSP have come together. They will fight together for social justice, national security, good governance, the deprived, exploited, farmers, poor, Dalits, youth and women, and to empower every poor section".
Rajbhar, who enjoys influence especially among his Rajbhar community which is present in sizeable numbers in eastern Uttar Pradesh, said he will attend the NDA meeting on July 18 here in what is being seen as a show of strength by the ruling alliance in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Rajbhar's alliance with the Samajwadi Party was considered an important reason for the BJP's relatively poor performance in parts of 'poorvanchal' during the 2022 assembly polls.
His relations with the Samajwadi Party had strained following the state elections, which the BJP won comfortably, and he had been taking digs at its leader Akhilesh Yadav off and on.
He was a BJP ally and a minister in the state government as well but had parted ways with the party ahead of the assembly polls.
The BJP's decision to woo him back into the NDA highlights its micro efforts to strengthen its presence all-round the state which sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha.
The party has been claiming that it will win all 80 seats in 2024, and its frenetic efforts to expand its alliance in the country's most important state politically underlines its seriousness. It had won 62 seats while the SP-BSP alliance, which broke soon after, had bagged 17.
The decision of another OBC leader from 'Poorvanchal', Dara Singh Chauhan, to resign as a Samajwadi Party MLA on Saturday is seen as part of the BJP's larger exercise to bolster its ranks, especially among the backward classes.
Chauhan had also met Shah before his resignation. He is likely to join hands with the BJP.
Chauhan was in the BJP earlier too but had joined the SP ahead of the 2022 assembly polls.
श्री @oprajbhar जी से दिल्ली में भेंट हुई और उन्होंने प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के नेतृत्व वाले NDA गठबंधन में आने का निर्णय लिया। मैं उनका NDA परिवार में स्वागत करता हूँ।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 16, 2023
राजभर जी के आने से उत्तर प्रदेश में एनडीए को मजबूती मिलेगी और मोदी जी के नेतृत्व में एनडीए द्वारा… pic.twitter.com/uLnbgJedbF
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Death toll from Israeli strikes in northeast Lebanon rises from 8 to 24, Lebanese news agency says
Deir al-Balah, Nov 1: Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 24 people in northeastern Lebanon, the country's news agency said, raising the death toll from eight there.
It was the latest deadly toll in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated last month.
Israel's military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure.
Lebanon's state National news Agency reported four airstrikes in different villages across country's northeast, saying rescuers were still searching for survivors in Younine, a town in the Bekaa Valley, from the rubble of a targeted house.
Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker representing the region in Baalbek-Hermel region, said that 60,000 people have already fled their homes in the area due to Israeli bombardment.
