Took decision after consulting partymen: Jayant on joining NDA
“I took this decision only after speaking to all the MLAs and workers of my party. There was no advance planning behind this decision. We had to make this decision within a short time because of the circumstances. We want to do something good for the people,” Jayant said.
LUCKNOW: Amid speculations about some of his MLAs being unhappy, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary indicated on Monday that he was returning to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after having been in the opposition for a decade.
He not only strongly rebutted the news in a section of the media about dissent among some of his MLAs as ‘false’ but also claimed that he had taken the decision to walk out of the INDIA alliance and join the NDA after due consultations with all his MLAs and other senior leaders.
“I took this decision only after speaking to all the MLAs and workers of my party. There was no advance planning behind this decision. We had to make this decision within a short time because of the circumstances. We want to do something good for the people,” Jayant said in response to a question about whether some of his MLAs were angry over his decision to move to the NDA fold.
The speculations about some of the RLD MLAs not being happy with Jayant’s decision to stitch an alliance with the BJP started doing rounds especially after four of the nine RLD MLAs skipped the visit to Ayodhya to offer prayers to the newly built Ram Temple there on Sunday.
RLD MLAs, however, claimed there was no resentment, and all nine MLAs were solidly behind Jayant Chaudhary.
“There is no truth in news that some RLD MLAs are unhappy with the party’s decision to shake hands with the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. We are all with Jayant Chaudhary with all our might,” said RLD MLA from Sivalkhas, Ghulam Mohammad who was one of the MLAs who skipped the Ayodhya visit on Sunday.
Another RLD MLA, Pradeep Chaudhary Guddu, who was part of the team visiting Ayodhya on Sunday, also claimed all nine MLAs supported Jayant Chaudhary’s decision.
“I can say with all responsibility that not a single RLD MLA is unhappy with the party’s decision,” he said.
“I, like my three other colleagues, could not join due to personal reasons. I will visit the Ram temple separately some other day,” he told HT over the phone.
Though Jayant Chaudhary is yet to make any direct and formal announcement about his leaving INDIA block and joining the BJP-led NDA, his Monday’s reply to mediapersons clearly sheds light on the political developments expected to take place in the next few days.
“Jayant Chaudhary is avoiding making a direct announcement about walking out of the alliance with the SP, probably because assurance on the deal may yet to come from the top BJP leadership,” another RLD MLA said.
With 27 Lok Sabha seats, the western Uttar Pradesh is considered to be a Jat and Muslim-majority region. In the 2019 elections, BJP won 19 seats in the region, while the opposition alliance won eight seats.
The RLD, which was part of the opposition alliance, failed to secure any seats. The party lost Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar, its traditional strongholds, contested by Jayant Chaudhary and his father Ajit Singh, respectively.
A senior RLD leader said that the deal with the BJP was being finalised, and the party might get two Lok Sabha seats, Baghpat and Bijnor, in addition to a Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh.
“The RLD wants Muzaffarnagar too, but the BJP may not dislodge its sitting MP Sanjiv Balyan from there. Satyapal Malik, as a BJP leader, has been representing Baghpat since 2014, and the grapevine has it that the BJP may relocate him this time to accommodate the RLD,” he said.
“Jayant Chaudhary has assured us that he was going to strike the best possible deal with the BJP,” the RLD leader disclosed, requesting anonymity.
