BJP will be wiped out if SP, BSP combine: Minister

Varanasi, Dec 17 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be wiped out in the state in Lok Sabha elections if the BSP and Samajwadi Party join hands, state cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said on Monday.

"It is very clear that if these two one-time rivals come together, the BJP will certainly be decimated in the state" where it won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, said the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief, a BJP ally.

He also announced that his party would stage state-wide protests from December 24 on the issue of 27 per cent reservations.

He added that so far he had not received any invite for the Prime Minister's rally in Ghazipur and so would not attend it. 

Asked about his unceasing outbursts against the BJP, he said the SBSP had ensured the BJP's victory in 125 Assembly constituencies in the 2017 elections.