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Journalism of Courage
As the BJP remains mum on a formal confirmation of the alliance announced by Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary 10 days ago, workers in both parties are getting anxious. Senior leaders, however, said the tie-up was all but sealed.
Speaking to reporters at the RLD’s central office in Delhi, after paying tributes to his father and party founder late Ajit Singh on his birth anniversary, Chaudhary had confirmed that his party will join the NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections – after dropping several hints that this was coming.
Since then, there has been no word on the seats the RLD will contest, or any photographs of senior BJP leaders receiving Jayant. While BJP leaders in western UP are silent, confessing that decisions are being taken by the central leadership on the matter, RLD members said the party was bargaining for four Lok Sabha seats – Baghpat, Bijnor, Kairana and Mathura – all in its base of west UP.
Jayant, who last week visited Hapur district’s Noorpur, the birth place of his grandfather and former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, fobbed off questions about the reason behind his exit from the INDIA bloc saying: “When a formal announcement is made, I will openly reply to questions like what were the reasons, our idea for the future, and what we want to do for our people and our area.”
Insisting that the alliance is “finalised”, and just a formal announcement awaited, an RLD leader said: “Party leaders want Jayant to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Baghpat, the traditional seat of his family.”
One speculation is that the formal announcement might happen around the time of the unveiling of a life-size statue of Ajit Singh in Chhaprauli area of Baghpat Lok Sabha constituency. The initial date for the event was February 12. RLD sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi may himself visit Chhaprauli now in the coming days to unveil the statue.
“The announcement of the RLD-BJP alliance is expected to be made before that. All the modalities have been decided,” a senior RLD leader said.
However, as per other sources, the ongoing agitation by Punjab farmers and the BJP-led Haryana’s tough measures against them have queered the pitch. The leaders of the RLD, which claims to represent the interests of farmers apart from Jats, are facing questions over “Jayant’s silence” on the issue.
“Once farmers reach a settlement with the government, that will be a better atmosphere for the announcement of the BJP-RLD alliance. Right now, the BJP and RLD are both facing questions on the issue,” another RLD leader said.
In the 2020-21 farmer agitation against the three contentious farm laws, the RLD had been an active participant. Ajit Singh had given a call to bring farmers together and uproot the BJP government.
RLD national spokesperson Mohd Islam said it was wrong to say Jayant was “silent”. “The RLD is a farmers’ party, and we make no compromise on the issues of farmers. The RLD is speaking to the government and the NDA partners. Our priority is that the issues be resolved through dialogue between the government and farmers. And there should be no politics. Jayant is in touch with the government to find a solution,” Islam said.
On the fear that the Muslim vote might desert the RLD, Islam said party workers were telling the community that the SP and other Opposition parties were raising the bogey about the BJP. “Opposition parties have made the Muslims negative. We are appealing to them to become positive,” Islam said.
Earlier, the RLD announcement that it was joining the NDA was a blow to the struggling INDIA bloc, which is now down one more ally.
