The Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, said on Tuesday that it is open to joining the coalition of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party for the Lok Sabha elections, PTI reported.

Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is a minister in the state government, has made several critical remarks about the BJP in recent months. In October, he had said the saffron party brings up mosques and temples whenever he speaks of governance. In November, Rajbhar said the BJP should ask its Muslim leaders to change their names before the Uttar Pradesh government renames places in the state.

On Tuesday, Rajbhar told reporters in Lucknow that the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party could join the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance if there was no “headway” with the BJP. However, he claimed he had not yet begun discussions with either regional party.

Rajbhar also backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s dharna in protest against the Central Bureau of Investigation’s raid on Kolkata Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar’s residence. “Why has the CBI not raided the house of the main accused in the Saradha case who has joined the BJP?” he asked. Rajbhar added that the Supreme Court has already labelled the agency a “caged parrot”.

Banerjee called off the dharna on Tuesday evening after the Supreme Court ruled that Kumar must assist the CBI in its investigation into the Saradha scam. However, the court ordered the agency not to arrest the Kolkata police chief.