Om Prakash Rajbhar sacked from Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh cabinet

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik on Monday dismissed Om Prakash Rajbhar from the state’s council of ministers on the recommendation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Five other leaders of Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), who held posts with ministerial status in various commissions, were also removed with immediate effect.

Rajbhar’s response

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow after his removal, Rajbhar said he accepted the decision. He added that he wished the Chief Minister had shown the same urgency on matters he had raised, such as his demand for prohibition in the state and scholarships for poor children.

He said he would now work to expose the BJP and would rally his community by telling them how, in his view, the party had cheated OBCs and Dalits. He alleged that the BJP had ignored the issues he raised and kept him waiting until the polls were over, claiming it could have dropped him during the election but feared a backlash from OBC voters. There would be more elections in future, he said.

Dispute over his resignation

Rajbhar had claimed that he sent his resignation to the Chief Minister on April 13, but BJP sources said no such letter could be found. Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said that if Rajbhar had wanted to quit, he should have sent his resignation to the Governor. A BJP leader also pointed out that, despite saying he had left the government, Rajbhar had continued to use the bungalow, vehicle and staff provided to him as a cabinet minister.

During the campaign Rajbhar had used unparliamentary language against the BJP and its leaders and had even campaigned for opposition candidates. According to sources, the BJP now plans to promote its own Minister of State Anil Rajbhar, the MLA from the Sakaldiha Assembly seat in Chandauli district, to win over the Rajbhar community. One BJP leader noted that there were three years left before the next Assembly election.

What happened next

In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the BJP won 255 seats and the Samajwadi Party 111, and Yogi Adityanath remained Chief Minister.

See also: Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha members

Originally published on 20 May 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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