The Rashtriya Lok Dal is contesting from only two seats in Uttar Pradesh – Baghpat and Bijnor – in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but the influence of the party’s boss, Jayant Chaudhary, seems disproportionately larger in western Uttar Pradesh after his alliance with the BJP.
“Perhaps it has always been disproportionate,” Chaudhary told News18 on Thursday, on the sidelines of a poll rally in Amroha. Chaudhary embarked on his election campaign, starting with a rally for a BJP candidate and former MP, Kanwar Singh Tanwar, who is up against Congress-SP candidate Kunwar Danish Ali.
“The NDA is on a strong wicket in the entire country in these elections and western Uttar Pradesh is the same story. We are hopeful of ‘abki baar 400 seat paar’ for the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), and western UP will contribute in a big way to that,” he said.
The RLD has been championing the cause of sugarcane farmers in the state and was taking on the BJP for the procurement rate of per quintal, which stands at s 370 in UP. “I am saying let the farmers make the NDA win with 400 seats this time… the sugarcane rate will also go ‘400 paar’,” he added.
Chaudhary further said the RLD performed the role of the opposition against the BJP with full fervour, but people told him that the opposition is weakening by the day. “I realised that people wanted us to be a strong opposition but not come in the government… we were last in the government in 2005,” he said, explaining his move to shift camp from the Samajwadi Party to the BJP.
He credited the BJP for awarding the Bharat Ratna to his grandfather Chaudhary Charan Singh. “Western UP is an area that has given leadership to the country in the form of Chaudhary Charan Singh and Chaudhary Ajit Singh. The BJP recognised the contribution of my grandfather. It was always a pain point for western UP that a visionary leader like Chaudhary Charan Singh was not recognised by earlier governments,” he added.
The RLD chairman said he will continue to fight for the cause of farmers as it remains close to his heart. A Rajya Sabha MP, he will not be contesting the election this time but has given the ticket to his two trusted lieutenants from Baghpat and Bijnor.
“We have given tickets to our veteran workers. There was pressure on me to fight from Baghpat, but I chose our veteran leader Rajkumar Sanghwan,” he said.
The opposition is still fighting over seat distribution and dynasty politics, Chaudhary said. “They (SP) are speaking of ‘PDA’ (pichde, Dalit, alpsankhyak) but the motive is different. The BJP is looking at a 25-year vision. Chaudhary Charan Singh had a similar vision for the future. The decision we have taken to join the NDA is for the benefit of our farmers and people in western UP,” he added.
Comments
0 comment