A Spade In Hand, Uttar Pradesh Minister Takes A Swipe At Yogi Adityanath

New Delhi: A cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh has picked up a spade to fix the road to his ancestral house in Varanasi's Sindhora, a move that is also seen as an effort to embarrass the Yogi Adityanath government in Lucknow, 300 km away. Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said he did not have a choice because his repeated requests to the administration to repair the roads hadn't helped.

He and his family members have sought help from villagers in building the road themselves, news agency ANI reported.

Sporting a yellow turban, the colour associated with his Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party or SBSP, the minister for backward classes and disabled has started levelling the road and clearing the mud.

"When the district administration has an indifferent attitude towards a minister, how can the public expect their requests to be heard," the minister said.

According to ANI, Mr Rajbhar was hosting a reception for his son's wedding is scheduled on Sunday at his house. "I don't want my guests to be inconvenienced because of the condition of the roads," he said.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party is an ally of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

But the BJP's ties with SBSP - a party which has support in the eastern part of the state and four seats in the 403-member assembly - have been going downhill for the last few months.
 Mr Rajbhar revolted and almost voted against the BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha biennial elections in April until Amit Shah intervened and salvaged the near-certain embarrassment for the ruling party. Mr Rajbhar also recently met Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Singh Yadav, sparking speculation about the possibility that his party could desert his alliance partner.

But this week, the BJP's state president Mahendra Nath Pandey gave it back to the SBSP legislator when he, while addressing a function in lawmaker Kailash Sonkar's constituency, called the SBSP legislator a "thief".

"I am saying it very clearly...I have been told that he (Kailash Sonkar) has been looting poor people. It is the people who are complaining against him. We will not tolerate any corruption from elected representatives," said Mr Pandey to explain why  the legislator's wasn't put on the foundation stone.