Jayant Chaudhary's veiled dig at ex-ally Akhilesh Yadav: ‘Used to give up queen and…’

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary on Tuesday hit out at his ex-ally Samajwadi Party, saying it ‘used to give up the queen and take away the king’.

"In political and social life, strategy is a must and that's the work of a politician. In the game of chess, the opponents try to prove that they are weak and then defeat the opposite player. Our alliance partner wanted to do the same. The one who was with us used to give up the queen and take away the king," ANI quoted Chaudhary as saying, hinting at SP. 

The RLD leader, who recently joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, said he does not hold any grievances against his former alliance partner.

"We don't have any grievances. They have their responsibility and we think about our people. Some harsh decisions need to be taken if you are a leader. Those who lead are called leaders, moreover, those who follow and support the people are also called leaders," he said.

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Hailing the Narendra Modi government, Chaudhury said, "In the eyes of the central government, any work is not small and we have to give birth to this mindset in society. “There were people in society, who did not get the chance but today this mindset is changing.”

The RLD has joined hands with the BJP for the fourth time in its political history. It had formed an alliance for the first time in 1993 for the Delhi municipal polls. 

In 2002, the RLD then headed by Chaudhary's father Ajit Singh had forged an alliance with the BJP for the assembly elections held that year. The RLD had won 14 out of the 38 seats it had contested in the alliance. The party had joined hands with the BJP for the third time during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and won five of the seven seats in Uttar Pradesh. 

The Rashtriya Lok Dal had quit the NDA before the 2012 UP assembly polls and joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. However, it failed to win a single seat in the 2014 general elections, the year Modi came to power. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the RLD joined the SP-BSP grand alliance but lost all the three seats it contested. In 2022, the party now headed by Jayant Chaudhary won nine seats. 

Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19. Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs to the lower house, will vote in all seven phases.The votes will be counted on June 4. 

(With ANI inputs)