Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad explores formation of anti-BJP alliance in Uttar Pradesh

File image: Twitter/@BhimArmyChief

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad on March 2 met Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar, hinting at the formation of a new political alliance in Uttar Pradesh.

This comes in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections 2022.

"For an alliance, I would say that anything can happen and there are always possibilities in politics… In the coming days, we will come forward to stop the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) with a powerful alliance. If we need someone’s help then we will take their help too," Aazad was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

The Dalit leader has decided to turn Bhim Army — an organisation formed with the aim of fighting caste atrocities — into a political party that will contest the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Rajbhar’s party had snapped ties with the ruling BJP in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Aazad, who is popularly known as Ravan, will become a part of the Bhagidaari Sankalp Morcha — a front comprising eight political parties — SBSP General Secretary Arvind Rajbhar told news agency PTI.

"Bhim Army will also be a part of the front and a formal announcement will be made in the next few days. Today's meeting also deliberated on this," Arvind Rajbhar said, adding that the meeting lasted for around half an hour.

Invoking Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram, Aazad said, "As far as the politics of Dalits, Muslims and OBCs (other backward castes) is concerned, this is the kind of politics Kanshi Ram ji used to do and it is our responsibility to take it ahead."

(With inputs from PTI)