Ballia (UP): In a move seemingly driven by disappointment over not being allocated a seat in the upcoming Bihar polls, the SBSP, a member of the NDA, announced on Monday that it will contest 153 seats in the state.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) National General Secretary Arvind Rajbhar made the announcement, stating that the party will reveal its candidates for the Bihar elections at a press conference in Patna on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Ballia, Arvind Rajbhar said, “The SBSP will contest 153 seats in Bihar. The party has been expanding its organisation in Bihar for the last 19 years and demonstrating its strength through various programmes. Our effort was to strengthen the NDA in Bihar as well, as we are with the NDA in Uttar Pradesh.”

Rajbhar claimed that the Bihar unit of the BJP provided a negative report regarding the strength of the SBSP, which resulted in the NDA denying them any seats.

“We have been voicing our concerns for a long time. On May 1, 2025, we informed Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda. On May 5, we held a rally in Bihar and communicated to senior BJP leaders that if an alliance with the NDA was finalised, we would contest together; if not, we would contest alone,” he explained.

He added that the party waited until Sunday for the matter to be finalised. “We did not want to make a mistake on our part, so we waited for the decision of the NDA’s top leadership. Now, we have decided that the SBSP will contest 153 seats in Bihar,” Rajbhar said.

When asked about potential alliances with other parties, Rajbhar mentioned that there have been efforts made since Sunday. “We received an offer from the Rashtriya Janata Dal to contest five seats, but we have rejected it,” he said, adding that he had also spoken with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Tej Pratap Yadav.

In response to a question, Rajbhar clarified that the SBSP will remain aligned with the NDA in Uttar Pradesh and emphasised that they were not focused on defeating or winning against anyone in Bihar. “We will gather our votes regardless of who wins or loses,” he added.