The entire episode was captured on video and has since gone viral online. Soon after the incident, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav critisised the incident as “another example of continuously increasing insulting behaviour and atrocities” on PDA.
In a post on X, he wrote, “The violent attack on the elderly and senior leader Shri Mahendra Rajbhar Ji is yet another deplorable example of the continuously increasing insulting behaviour and atrocities against the ‘PDA community’ under BJP’s rule.”
वयोवृद्ध और वरिष्ठ नेता श्री महेंद्र राजभर जी पर हुआ हिंसक हमला भाजपा के राज में ‘पीडीए समाज’ पर लगातार बढ़ते जा रहे अपमानजनक व्यवहार और अत्याचार का एक और निंदनीय उदाहरण है।
भाजपा अगर सोचती है कि वो किसी समाज को अंदर से तोड़कर अपनी विभाजनकारी राजनीति को बनाए रखेगी तो ये उसकी… pic.twitter.com/HdVEhyzDs3— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 10, 2025
“Violence is merely a form of desperation. The BJP should remember that such acts will not break the morale of the PDA but will instead make it even more powerful,” Yadav added. He used the abbreviation PDA for ‘pichde’ (backward classes), Dalits, and ‘alpsankhyak’ (minorities).
The event was held for a ‘bhoomi pujan’ before placing a statue of the revered Rajbhar figure in the Rajbhar-dominated Zafarabad Assembly constituency. The event’s chief guest was Mahendra Rajbhar, a native of Mau district.
During the celebrations, Brijesh Rajbhar, a fellow party member, first garlanded Mahendra and then slapped him multiple times in full public view.
Following this, Mahendra accused Om Prakash Rajbhar, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister and president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), of orchestrating the attack. Later, he filed a complaint at the Jalalpur police station, naming Brijesh Rajbhar.
In conversation with reporters, he stated that Brijesh met Om Prakash Rajbhar four to five days ahead of the event and planned the attack under his direction.
“Brijesh was once a worker in my party, but he currently holds no official position. I don’t know how or why he came to the event or who invited him. There is no internal dispute in the party or any financial disagreement,” Mahendra said, as reported by PTI.
Earlier, Mahendra was associated with the SBSP and worked as its national vice-president before parting ways before the 2022 Assembly elections to form his party.
