After long chill, Akhilesh-Jayant’s Bengaluru warmth sets the tone for their 2024 poll talks

Jayant tweeted an image of the identification cards of himself, Akhilesh and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav as delegates at the Opposition parties’ meet that stated, “United we stand”.

Akhilesh tweeted a photo of him sitting next to Jayant among other leaders at the conclave, captioning it in Hindi, “There is responsibility on every shoulder… There is fresh preparation now.”

These social media posts were said to be aimed at signalling that the two allies are still together. The leaders of the two parties said that both Akhilesh and Jayant have “a common goal: to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls”.

While both the parties have refused to admit publicly any strains in their relations, there have been such signs for some time with several RLD leaders even saying privately that Jayant was looking for a new ally and “exploring options”. They said that the party felt “bullied” by its senior ally.

Some SP leaders said the RLD “needs to show its worth to demand more seats”, claiming that the latter had already gained a lot in the 2022 UP Assembly polls when it won eight seats “after getting wholehearted support of the Muslim community because of its alliance with the SP”.

हर कंधे पर ज़िम्मेदारी है… अब एक नई तैयारी है…!!! pic.twitter.com/yxwTiXtSnZ

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 17, 2023

The perceived differences between the two leaders started after Jayant was elected to the Rajya Sabha in May last year, which subsequently became pronounced as Akhilesh and Jayant were not seen together since. It became glaring since the recent state urban local body (ULB) elections, when Jayant was not seen with Akhilesh even when the latter visited western UP for campaigning. Also, there were several seats where the candidates of both the allies contested against each other.

Later, Jayant’s RLD colleagues started talking about a possible tie-up with the Congress. Jayant even attended the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in May, which was skipped by Akhilesh. Recently, there was speculation of Jayant meeting a senior BJP leader and Union minister. While Jayant denied these reports, some leaders of his party said their talks fell through over some demands made by the former. Jayant gave the

Opposition parties’ first meeting in Patna on June 23 a miss due to some “pre-scheduled family function”, which left political tongues wagging. The rift buzz was again fuelled later when Jayant did not wish Akhilesh on his birthday while even the latter’s arch rivals like CM Yogi Adityanath and BSP chief Mayawati did so.

On July 9, the RLD announced it was preparing to contest 12 Lok Sabha seats in western UP in the 2024 polls, which was construed as a signal to the SP that it would not compromise much in seat-sharing. The SP leaders remained quiet over it, maintaining that the party leadership would take a call on the matter when “the time is right”.

As the two allies warmed up to each other afresh at the Opposition’s Bengaluru meet, SP leaders say it could be because “Jayant’s politics may not work with the BJP and he may be wary of joining the BJP-led NDA where his role could shrink”.

“All is well between SP and RLD now. There is no doubt. The alliance will move ahead together,” said a senior SP leader who was part of Akhilesh’s delegation in Bengaluru. He said the two leaders did not discuss seat-sharing during the conference because it could be done later. “Currently, the issue is of the Opposition’s national alliance. What happens in UP between SP and RLD can be worked out later,” he added.

RLD Mahanagar president (Ghaziabad) Rekha Chaudhary, who was a part of Jayant’s team in Bengaluru, claimed there was never an issue between Akhilesh and Jayant. “The issue that you are talking about in ULB polls was nothing. Those were local elections and the RLD had to give tickets to its workers and the same was true for SP. No one should read too much into that. The alliance will stay intact because at the end of the day, the two parties have one common goal – to defeat the BJP government which is against the people of this country,” said Chaudhary.

Speaking to media persons in Bengaluru, both Akhilesh and Jayant hit out at the BJP, but remained silent over their UP alliance. While Akhilesh claimed that two-thirds of the country’s people were against the BJP, Jayant said the country’s economy was in “terrible shape”. While it is still not certain whether the two allies will contest the 2024 polls together, its possibility got a fillip from the warmth they showed at the Bengaluru event.