Lucknow, Dec 21 (IANS): Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who heads the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), is inching closer to his former ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

An indication of this came when deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak appointed Rajbhar as the vice president of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Foundation.

Pathak heads the foundation and Rajbhar, thereafter, attended a meeting of the foundation.

Rajbhar said that this was a non-political programme. "This is not a political platform, and we are political people. This should not be seen in a different way," he said.

Uttar Pradesh minister Daya Shankar Singh has said that the SBSP president was ideologically close to the BJP.

"Rajbhar is an old ally of the BJP. He has been a minister in the BJP government. Prime minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are taking his ideology forward," Singh said.

He further said, "Anything can happen in politics. There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. Decisions are taken according to the time and circumstances."

Daya Shankar Singh had earlier claimed that Rajbhar was his friend and had even taken the SPSP chief to meet Swatantra Dev Singh, then the UP BJP chief.

Interestingly, of late, Rajbhar has been openly criticising the SP leadership.

He has termed Yogi Adityanath as a leader with honest intentions.

The Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar is a backward leader with influence in eastern UP districts.

He had fought the 2017 Assembly election in the state in alliance with the BJP and was also a minister in the first Yogi Adityanath-led government before splitting and joining the SP-led alliance in the run-up to this year's Assembly polls, in which his party won six seats.

Since the BJP came to power in the state again, Rajbhar is said to be showing an inclination to ally with the ruling party.