A new strain in RLD-BJP alliance: After ‘disrespect’ to party song, Jayant Chaudhary flexes muscles

Singer Andy Jaat had just started singing the song “RLD Aayi Re (RLD is coming)” – described by the party as its anthem – when he was allegedly asked to get off the stage. Present in the audience was Hathras BJP MP Anoop Valmiki.

RLD leaders soon claimed that it was BJP workers backed by Valmiki who had asked the singer to get off the stage.

Word travelled fast, reaching Chaudhary in Lucknow, where he had gone for a private function and some official engagements. As per sources, it was Sadabad (Hathras district) MLA Pradeep Kumar Singh who told Chaudhary about the “disrespect” shown to the singer.

“As soon as Jayant ji got to know about the incident, he made up his mind to visit the fair and make the same singer sing the song from the same stage,” said a source.

Accordingly, a few programmes of Chaudhary were rescheduled, and instead of flying to Delhi from Lucknow, he drove down to Hathras – through a downpour, as per party sources. If anyone had any confusion about his intentions, a post put up by Chaudhary on X before he left Lucknow made it clear: “Let’s go from Lucknow to Hathras. RLD aayi re.”

Andy Jaat was told to get back to Hathras from Haryana, where he was, and informed that he would share the stage with Chaudhary. Finally, on Wednesday, with Valmiki in the audience, along with Chaudhary and several other leaders, Andy Jaat sang the song again – and completed it.

Sources said that local BJP leaders and representatives, trying to calm things down, told Chaudhary that Andy Jaat’s performance had been stopped on September 14 only due to “time constraints” and “nothing else”.

As he was departing from the event Wednesday, Chaudhrary indicated he was ready to let bygones be bygones. Dodging questions regarding any issues with the BJP, he said: “Hathras is my region, and I have come here. It is not because of a compulsion.”

The singer, who was reportedly briefed to not stir the waters, said he was back at the fair because Chaudhary was visiting. On what had happened on September 14, Andy Jaat stayed quiet.

Incidentally, the song “RLD aayi re” was composed and written by the singer in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections, when the RLD was an ally of the Samajwadi Party and was contesting against the BJP and NDA. The RLD switched over to the NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last year, after which Chaudhary became a Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and also MoS (Education).

Andy Jaat has a sizeable following on social media, with 2.96 lakh followers on YouTube and 1.75 lakh on Instagram.

RLD national spokesperson Rohit Agarwal told The Indian Express that for them, RLD aayi re was more than a song. “It is an emotion that binds and enthuses the cadre. Anyone trying to disrespect this emotion would do well to realise that it won’t be taken lightly. That is why Jayant ji not only put up a post with similar lyrics but also climbed the same stage with the same singer at the same venue.”
On what happened on September 14, the RLD leader said: “As far as we are concerned, forcing the singer to climb down from the stage was not a good thing. (But) There is no issue between the BJP and RLD. Our alliance is solid.”

However, as 2027 and the next Assembly polls draw near, BJP allies in UP have been showing signs of restlessness. The clearest example of that was a gathering last month of the BJP’s OBC allies from UP in Delhi, without the BJP. Among those present was RLD leader Chandan Chouhan.

Chaudhary has in the past not hidden his opinions if he disagreed with decisions of the Uttar Pradesh government. In July last year, following a police order asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display names of their owners, the RLD chief had said the police move was “unnecessary”, and the decision was “not taken after a lot of thought”.

At an Idea Exchange event of The Indian Express after that episode, Chaudhary had said: “I am not Yogi (Adityanath). I do not have to agree with everything he says or does. And we are not the BJP, we are an ally.”