BJP-RLD deal almost done, parties rework west Uttar Pradesh arithmetic
It was in west U.P. where the Congress, along with the SP and the RLD, was planning to forge a formidable chemistry by fielding common candidates.
The new Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance, which is a mere announcement away, has given an interesting twist to politics in western Uttar Pradesh with the two parties now likely to come up with joint rallies. This is perhaps the reason why the RLD has put on hold the February 12 function to unveil the statue of its chief Jayant Chaudhary’s father former Union minister Ajit Singh in Chaprauli in Baghpat district, from where a formal announcement about the new alliance was earlier expected.
Reflecting the fresh political equation in Uttar Pradesh, the statue unveiling could now be done either by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or chief minister Yogi Adityanath or both, RLD leaders indicated.
After Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s dramatic switch to ruling National Democratic Alliance, the BJP appears to have effected yet another coup in the Opposition ranks, just before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra enters Uttar Pradesh on February 16.
The duration of Rahul’s Nyay Yatra’s in U.P. is also being reworked from 11-days earlier to about six days now. The yatra won’t enter west U.P.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai, confirming that Rahul’s yatra was being reworked, however, attributed the decision to the U.P. Board examinations and several schools and colleges being made examination centres.
“The yatra route and stay has been redrafted due to U.P. Board examinations beginning from February 22. Hence, the yatra would enter into MP on February 21,” Rai said. Now the yatra would skip west U.P. destinations like Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Rampur, Moradabad, Amroha, Sambhal, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras. Despite Rai’s reasoning, changed political equations just ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls due in April-May, are being attributed to the altered schedule.
Despite spectacular wins since 2014, west UP had been a cause for concern for the BJP.
Of the 16 seats that the BJP had lost in U.P. in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, seven were from west U.P. Even in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls, the opposition alliance won 17 of the 27 seats in Moradabad division against BJP’s 10 and nine of the 16 seats in Saharanpur region.
“Now, during elections with Jayant sharing the stage with BJP top leadership, it would clearly be a big gain for the NDA in west UP. Joint rallies with PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, too, are likely in the run-up to and during the polls,” BJP leaders said.
State Congress chief Ajay Rai, however, said: “Mark my words. People in west UP are not happy with Jayant’s decision. I am in Ghaziabad and from what I gather there could even be a rebellion in RLD ranks now and, as for us, we will do even better now.”
It was in west U.P. where the Congress, along with the SP and the RLD, was planning to forge a formidable chemistry by fielding common candidates. While influential Muslim leader Imran Masood left the BSP to join the Congress, in Amroha Mayawati acted against her sitting MP Danish Ali for being close to the Congress.
Ahmad Hameed, son of Kaukab Hameed, who was quite influential in Baghpat, was also in talks with the Congress. Baghpat and Bijnor are now being talked about as the Lok Sabha seats that the BJP would leave out for RLD.
Apart from at least two Lok Sabha seats, a Rajya Sabha seat, two ministers in Yogi 2.0 and possibly a union ministry are likely to be part of the “bouquet of benefits” that are likely to come to the RLD for its chief Jayant’s switch, less than a month after he had finalised a pact with Samajwadi Party.
Asked if Jayant could morally vacate his Rajya Sabha seat too - as he became an MP due to SP’s lawmakers – RLD leader Rohit Agarwal, who heads his party’s business wing, hit back saying that both parties had helped each other.
“It was not a one-way traffic. Our lawmakers had also voted for them in previous polls,” Agarwal said, attributing the fall of the RLD-SP alliance to “SP’s pushy behaviour” against the “dil jeet liya (won the heart)” act of the BJP.
The “dil jeet liya’ remark was made by Jayant to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to name his grandfather and former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh for the Bharat Ratna, country’s highest honour, which RLD leaders admit tilted the scales in BJP’s favour.
“You would have noticed that chief minister Yogi Adityanathji declared December 23, Chaudhary Charan Singh’s birth anniversary, as a holiday. Subsequently, Yogiji unveiled the statue of Chaudhary Charan Singh in Moradabad. The Bharat Ratna for our leader, who most definitely is a worthy recipient of the coveted honour, was perhaps the turning point that melted us and that is why the alliance is now very much there,” said Dharamvir Balyan, the head of RLD’s disciplinary committee.
“In east U.P, the BJP has alliances with key OBC players, including Apna Dal (S), Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party and Nishad Party. The BJP’s two biggest leaders, PM Narendra Modi who is the party’s lifeline and chief minister Yogi Adityanath too are from east UP. All this while it was the west UP that was a major cause of concern for BJP. but with RLD on board, it’s a definite boost to the ruling party,” said Irshad Ilmi, a political expert.