RLD signals it will vote for BJP in Rajya Sabha polls, takes step closer to tie-up for Lok Sabha election

Taking the Rashtriya Lok Dal a step closer to a tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Lok Sabha elections, an RLD leader on Saturday said all its nine MLAs will vote for BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday (February 27).

A day before the voting for the Rajya Sabha polls, all nine RLD MLAs will attend a meeting called by chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on February 26.

Before that, they will meet their party chief and Rajya Sabha member Jayant Chaudhary in Mathura on Sunday.

“Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has convened a meeting of BJP allies’ legislature parties in Lucknow on February 26 at 11 am possibly to discuss the strategy for the voting to the Rajya Sabha elections the next day,” RLD Legislature Party chief Rajpal Balian said over phone.

“All our nine MLAs will also attend the meeting convened by the chief minister,” he added.

Balian also said, “All the nine MLAs of the RLD will vote for the BJP candidates.” There was no truth in the reports about dissent in the party, he added.

The RLD MLAs hold the key to the victory of the BJP’s eighth or the SP’s third candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls to fill the 10 seats from the state.

Based on their strength in the U.P. assembly, both the ruling BJP and the main Opposition SP may have no problem in winning seven and two Rajya Sabha seats, respectively.

However, the entry of Sanjay Seth, as the BJP’s eighth candidate in the fray has necessitating voting for the 10th seat as there are 11 contestants now.

Even if the BJP manages all the votes of the MLAs belonging to its existing allies (minus RLD’s nine MLAs), the ruling party, it is said, may fall short of the numbers to get its eighth candidate elected.

The SP, on the other hand, may fall short of two votes to get its third candidate elected even after the two Congress MLAs vote in favour of the SP candidates after the alliance.

It is believed that the SP is trying to garner support of three of the RLD MLAs who were earlier in the party and still have a good rapport with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Ever since Jayant Chaudhary hinted at returning to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi “won his heart” by announcing conferment of the Bharat Ratna on his grandfather and the late PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, rumours about some of his MLAs being displeased over his move have done the rounds.

The absence of three RLD MLAs from the recent Ayodhya trip organised by the government for all MLAs to have ‘darshan’ of Ram Lall at newly built grand Ram Temple only added wings to such speculation. Jayant Chaudhary rebutted reports about dissent among his MLAs. Later, the party also released pictures of all the nine MLAs sitting with Jayant at his Delhi residence to obviously show that all was well in the party.

Pact announcement likely only after Jayant calls on PM

An official announcement about the alliance between the RLD and the BJP is expected only after Jayant Chaudhary has a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chaudhary has not yet made any formal and direct announcement about his decision of walking out of the INDIA bloc to return to the NDA. Neither has the BJP uttered a word on the same yet.

“Our understanding is that alliance between the two parties will be officially announced after Jayant Chaudhary meets the PM and the meeting may take place very soon,” a senior RLD leader said. Jayant, according to him, has sought an appointment with the PM.

“Jayant Chaudhary also wants the PM to unveil the statue of his late father and party’s founder Ajit Singh in Chhaprauli in Baghpat district,” he revealed.