'5 CMs in 5 years in UP': Om Prakash Rajbhar shares his power-sharing plan

Months before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar has suggested a new strange formula to govern the state. Rajbhar said if his 10-party alliance wins the state elections in UP, there will be a new chief minister every year.

"If we form the government in 2022, we are clear that there will be five chief ministers in five years. One will be Muslim, one Rajbhar, one Chauhan, one Kushwaha and one Patel. We will also have four deputy CMs in a year and 20 in five years. We are clear that everyone will be treated equally in the coalition," said Rajhbhar.

Rajbhar's party is part of Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha, a coalition of 10 parties. He said that the coalition will contest the election from all 403 seats in the state and "win more than 300 seats to form the government".

Rajbhar was earlier part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Uttar Pradesh. He said today that caste is the reality of the society and all parties contest the elections based on the caste system.

"Not like getting backward class votes in the names on Keshav Prasad Maurya and when it's time to appoint chief minister, bring one from Uttarakhand. People of backward castes are waiting for their turn to get the post of chief minister. If becoming CM depends on votes, I said why not form a coalition and become chief minister turn by turn," he said.

Rajbhar resigned from the Yogi Adityanath government in 2019.

In the last assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the BJP had won 312 out of 403 seats, and the SBSP four seats. Another ally of the coalition, Apna Dal (Sonelal), had won nine seats.

Backward classes account for about 44 per cent of the electorate in caste-riddled Uttar Pradesh and play a crucial role in making or marring political prospects of any party. The Rajbhar community constitutes about 20 per cent of the population and are concentrated in eastern Uttar Pradesh.