Uncertainty shrouds RLD’s future in INDIA, political circles abuzz

Uncertainty over the fate of opposition INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh continued on Wednesday, with speculation that its key constituent Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) may walk away from the alliance ahead of the general elections gaining steam due to party chief Jayant Chaudhary’s studied silence on the matter and cryptic comments from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

The Samajwadi Party (SP), the senior partner in the opposition bloc in Uttar Pradesh, the state that sends maximum 80 lawmakers to the 543-member Lok Sabha, however, sounded confident that the RLD will remain with the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and accused the BJP of “creating confusion”.

Last month, the RLD and the SP had announced their alliance for the general polls this summer, with Chaudhary’s party saying the latter will leave seven seats in western UP for its nominees. Since then, the political circle in the state was abuzz with speculation that the RLD chief was not very pleased with the seat-sharing arrangement and was eyeing more seats to contest. The continued silence of Chaudhary, a prominent Jat leader with considerable sway in western UP, has only fueled the rumours.

When asked about the RLD-BJP likely alliance ahead of the polls, BJP leader and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya told reporters: “You will get to know when that happens.” His party colleague and another deputy CM Brajesh Pathak responded the same question, saying: “Everyone is getting drawn to the BJP and PM [Narendra] Modi anyway.”

Senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav, when posed the same query, told reporters: “The BJP is doing the work of creating confusion. He (Jayant) is not going anywhere. He will remain with the INDIA bloc with full strength and will do the work of defeating the BJP.”

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, whose support helped the Jat leader become a Rajya Sabha member despite the RLD falling short of numbers, said he hopes that Chaudhary will not weaken the struggle going on for the prosperity of Uttar Pradesh.

“I know Jayant, he is a secular person. He is very clear and well educated. He understands politics,” the SP chief told reporters in Lucknow. “I hope the struggle going on for the welfare of the farmers and prosperity of the state will not be weakened by him.”

Both parties had contested the 2022 state assembly elections in an alliance, in which the SP had won 111 seats while the RLD bagged eight seats as the BJP led by chief minister Yogi Adityanath returned to power for a second straight term.

While Chaudhary could not be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts, RLD organisational general secretary Trilok Tyagi dismissed the BJP-RLD pact speculation while admitting the party was approached by the BJP.

“It’s true that BJP had approached us sometime back, but the fact is that our alliance with SP is strong,” Tyagi said, adding the “BJP-fueled buzz” was indicative of the ruling party’s “admission that its tally would reduce” in the upcoming polls.

“We had demanded eight seats from SP but got seven,” Tyagi added.

RLD national secretary Rajkumar Sangwan said the SP wanted to field its candidates on the RLD symbol from Kairana, Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor seats. “But it does not mean that we are walking away from the alliance. We believe the SP leadership will adopt a flexible attitude and all issues between the two parties will be resolved,” Sangwan added.