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Voices in RLD favour strategic shift, all eyes on party chief Jayant Chaudhary now
After the Ayodhya temple event and Nitish Kumar’s switch, many RLD leaders feel it will be politically more expedient for their party to join the BJP-led NDA in Uttar Pradesh
A section of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leaders has begun emphasising the need for the party to go for a strategic shift under altered political equations after the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya last week and the return of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, architect of the Opposition’s INDIA alliance, to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) camp on Sunday.
While such voices have arisen, they have left it to RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary to take the final call. The situation has cropped up even as the uncertainty still surrounds the distribution of seats to the RLD though Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav had recently announced that his party had left seven Lok Sabha seats for the RLD.
“No doubt, the INDIA bloc has gone topsy-turvy after the exit of Nitish Kumar from it. Under the given circumstances that have changed fast after the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, it will be politically more expedient for the RLD join the BJP-led NDA in Uttar Pradesh,” an RLD MLA said, requesting anonymity.
“But this is for our leader Jayant Chaudhary to decide. For now, we have a strong alliance with the SP, and we are preparing accordingly,” he added.
According to insiders, the announcement of specific seats being shared is getting delayed because of a lack of consensus over Muzaffarnagar and Kairana Lok Sabha seats that both the RLD and the SP want to contest.
“The SP is insisting that its candidates contest on the RLD symbol both from Muzaffarnagar and Kairana constituencies, but this offer is not acceptable to Jayant Chaudhary,” the party said.
“The RLD is especially possessive about the Muzaffarnagar seat from where party founder the late Chaudhary Ajit Singh contested in 2019 but lost to the BJP, albeit narrowly. Besides, the party has worked hard in the region to regain the ground it lost after the communal riots in 2013,” he added.
Within the RLD there are many who, in private, advocate recalibration of the party’s political alliance in the changed scenario. The BJP is said to be eager to take the RLD into its fold to bolster its position in Western Uttar Pradesh. However, it is not clear if Jayant Chaudhary, who has consistently launched verbal salvos against the BJP and has reaffirmed his good ties with Akhilesh Yadav, time and again, will change course at this crucial juncture.
Observers feel that all eyes are now on Jayant Chaudhary and the unfolding dynamics that could potentially reshape the electoral alliances in Uttar Pradesh.
