News Analysis India

Tag: RLD

  • Comparing Charan Singh’s legacy to ‘small election’ of 2024 belittles him: Jayant Chaudhary

    To compare the legacy of Chaudhary Charan Singh with a “small election” of 2024 is belittling him, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary said, refusing to spill beans over the said “deal” between his party and the BJP. He was asked about speculations of the RLD joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and switching over from the INDIA bloc after Bharat Ratna was announced for his grandfather.

    “If you compare a small election of 2024 with the great legacy of Chaudhary Charan Singh, you are belittling him and insulting his supporters. It is an insult to an honour like Bharat Ratna,” Chaudhary said.

    Asked about the allegations of a “deal” between RLD and BJP, he said, “The process of deciding on Bharat Ratna is a pious process. The government takes decisions in the interest of the nation, keeping in mind people’s sentiment… 37 years after his death, a government thought of honouring him. If they are seeing something wrong with this and if they think there is a transaction, it shows their ideological decline.” Asked what went wrong with the Samajwadi Party, he said it is an “internal matter”, adding that he will explain later why he changed his stand.

    “Those are internal matters, based on trust. Whatever discussions took place between me and Akhilesh ji, I will not discuss it outside… When our alliance is decided and announced, I will be able to tell why I changed my stand and the way ahead,” he said.

    On his earlier remarks that he will not “flip like a coin”, Singh said there should be an “expiry date” to remarks. “This used to happen earlier as well, but earlier the records were not available all the time. In the times of internet, you can also see my statements from 20 years ago when I fought with the support of the BJP and became an MP from Mathura. There is an expiry date to statements, something was said during poll campaign… Amit Shah had said something about me, I said something to keep my people together. I did not intend to insult him, nor did he take it personally. Otherwise, would Chaudhary sahab get a Bharat Ratna?” he said. “I am responsible for Lok Dal. My responsibility is to see how I can do better for my people and how I can help farmers. I will take a decision based on that,” he added.

    The remarks come amid speculations of the RLD joining BJP-led NDA ahead of the general elections.

    Singh on Saturday praised the Modi government for honouring his grandfather and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh with Bharat Ratna.

    On Friday, after the announcement that Bharat Ratna will be conferred on Singh, Chaudhary had said “Dil jeet liya (They have won my heart)”.

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  • I don’t want to be Hema Malini, says Jayant Chaudhury after Amit Shah’s invite

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Stocking a controversy by bringing the name of BJP MP and famous Bollywood actor Hema Malini into poll discourse, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary claimed that his party leader Yogesh Chaudhury was wooed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying he would make him stars like Malini if he joined the party.

    Jayant Chaudhary, who had rejected the BJP overtures last week, made the comments while campaigning in Mathura on Tuesday.

    Referring to his party leader on stage with him, Chaudhary said, “Yogesh was saying he was told by Shah that, “Yogesh, join us. I will make you like Hema Malini.”

    His audience laughed and clapped at his reference to the actor-politician who is a BJP MP from Mathura. “I don’t know what all they keep saying about me. It is not that they have any love or feeling for me. I tell them — What will you get by pleasing me? I don’t want to be Hema Malini. What will you do for the people? What have you done for the families of 700 farmers who died during protests? Why is Teni still a minister?,” the RLD leader said.

    RLD is in alliance with Samajwadi Party in the UP. The party has declared 33 RLD candidates across western UP. Jayant, who has not won any election since 2014, is believed to be having some traction among the Jat farmers’ community especially after the unrest over three contentious farm laws which the BJP repealed in November last year.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Jayant’s controversial statement, Union minister Anurag Thakur, who is also handling BJP’s Uttar Pradesh campaign, hit back at RLD chief saying that the actor-turned-Mathura MP was elected based on her capabilities, popularity and work.

    “Not once, but many times she was elected to the Parliament with the public’s blessings. It is true he cannot become Hema Malini. He does not have the people’s blessing,” Thakur said at a media briefing.

    Chaudhary lost the Mathura seat to Hema Malini in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, he fought against Satya Pal Singh and lost from Baghpat. 

    Amit Shah, at a meeting with over 250 Jat leaders in Delhi on January 26, had sent feelers to Jayant saying he had gone into the wrong family and that the BJP doors would always be open for the RLD.

    “Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary are together only till counting. If their (Samajwadi) government is formed, then Azam Khan will sit (in their government) and Jayant Bhai will be out,” Shah had said later while addressing a poll rally.

  • Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary meet to discuss seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary virtually made it official on Tuesday that their parties, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), respectively, had sealed the deal to contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in alliance. 

    The two leaders met in Lucknow, apparently to discuss seat-sharing. They both later tweeted that they were moving together towards change. “Shri Jayant Chaudhary ji ke saath badlav ke ore (With Jayant Chaudhary for change,” the SP chief said in his twitter post. The RLD leader, too, posted a photograph of his meeting with Akhilesh and tweeted, “Badhte Kadam.”

    Speaking to this newspaper over phone, SP spokesperson Manoj Rai confirmed that alliance with RLD was finalised. “The details on seat-sharing would be announced after proper discussion,” he said. Sources, meanwhile, said the seat-sharing was also finalised and the announcement would be made soon.

    Sources from the RLD said the party expected to contest over 36 seats in western UP as it had a strong base here. The RLD had reportedly demanded 50 seats from the SP. The SP is learnt to have agreed to offer 30-36 seats of its choice in western UP to RLD.

    According to sources, the deal between the two parties was earlier stuck over Charthawal assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar district, with Akhilesh adamant to field SP candidate Harendra Malik from there. The sources said the RLD agreed for alliance after the SP dropped its claimed on Charthawal, from which Jayant himself is considering to contest. BJP’s Vijay Kumar Kushwaha was elected in 2017 from the seat.

    The RLD is believed to have consolidated its electoral base in western UP during the farmers’ agitation. “With its strong support among Jats, it can give a tougher fight to the BJP in western UP than the SP,” said a political observer.

  • 2022 UP polls: RLD snubs Congress, Jayant Chaudhary says talks with SP in final stages

    By Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary on Tuesday claimed his party’s alliance talks with Samajwadi Party were in the final stages and soon a decision in this regard would be made public.

    Jayant ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Congress which had reportedly offered him a Rajya Sabha seat in lieu of the poll understanding. Recently, Jayant happened to meet Congress general secretary and party’s UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi at the VIP lounge of Lucknow airport. Later, both of them left for Delhi in a chartered aircraft of the Chhattisgarh government. The meeting had given wings to speculations of a possible electoral tie-up between the two parties ahead of the 2022 electoral battle.

    Political pundits claimed that both the Congress and Samajwadi Party were out to woo the jat party (RLD) following traction among the jat community RLD has got recently in the wake of the ongoing farmers’ unrest over three contentious farm laws in western UP.

    The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which was once a very influential political force in western UP, is now striving to regain its lost ground riding on the wave of farmers’ protest in which the RLD’s core Jat voters are at the epicentre. The unrest among farmers in western UP has given RLD the hope of putting on a good show in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.

    On the other, RLD has been contesting elections in UP in alliance with the Samajwadi Party since 2014 and has failed to perform substantially in 2017 and 2019. Now, the fray in 2022 will be a do or die battle for the RLD.

    ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: Will enter the fray if party decides so, says Yogi Adityanath 

    In the 2017 UP Assembly polls, the SP had won 47 seats out of 298 it contested in alliance with the Congress and lost 177 seats in comparison to its 2012 figures of 224 seats. The Jayant Choudhary-led RLD won only one seat which was eight below its 2012 assembly election performance. Meanwhile, the BJP had won 130 seats from western UP.

    In 2019,  with the grand SP-BSP alliance in place, RLD was given just three seats – Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Mathura– spared by the SP from its quota. The RLD lost all three with Chaudhury Ajit Singh losing in Muzaffarnagar and Jayant in Baghpat.

    Clearing the air on his meeting with Priyanka saying it was no pressure tactic to get a bigger chunk of seats from Samajwadi Party, RLD chief Jayant said: “It was an informal meeting and it was prevalent among leaders of earlier times as well. The BJP has changed this culture, and people have become enemies of each other in politics.”

    Meanwhile, Chaudhary said the RLD would fulfil all promises made in the party manifesto, including one crore jobs to youths, setting state advisory price (SAP) for sugarcane and guaranteed payments to cane growers within 14 days, if it is voted to power in the state.

    However, the highly placed sources claimed that within the SP-RLD alliance, some issues over seat-sharing a lingering. While RLD wants to contest 70 seats, SP is willing to give them around 30 seats only. 

    Many believe that the RLD is banking on the traditional Jat and Muslim alliance which used to form late Chaudhary Charan Singh’s successful political plank.  After all, it is the question of political survival for Jayant Chaudhury.

  • UP polls: RLD chief rules out possibility of alliance with Congress

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Congress in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

    Talking to reporters in Shamli Sunday evening, he asserted that his party’s alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) was in “final stage”.

    The RLD leader had recently met Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at the Lucknow airport, and later both of them left for Delhi in a chartered aircraft of the Chhattisgarh government, a development that set tongues wagging in political circles.

    On being asked that the meeting was perceived as arm-twisting tactics of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to exert pressure on SP with regard to seat sharing for the state polls, a senior RLD leader had said, “No pressure has been exerted by anyone. This was an informal meeting (shishtaachaar bhet), and it was prevalent among leaders of earlier times. The BJP has changed this trend, and people have become enemies of each other in politics.”

    Meanwhile, Choudhary said the RLD will fulfill all promises made in the party manifesto, including one crore jobs to youths, setting state advisory price (SAP) for sugarcane and guaranteed payments within 14 days, if it is voted to power in the state.

    He also opposed the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act 2003.

  • Samajwadi Party to contest 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in alliance with RLD, regional parties: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and some smaller parties will contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls together, and an announcement in this regard would be made soon, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday.

    He said besides the RLD, talks have reached the final stage with the Mahan Dal and Dr Sanjay Chauhan’s outfit.

    Yadav said the “cleanup” of the BJP will begin from western Uttar Pradesh and the saffron party will be wiped out by the time it reaches Ballia (in eastern Uttar Pradesh).

    He also confirmed the SP’s alliance with his uncle Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia).

    The SP chief was speaking at a media event here.

    Yadav has already declared that his party will have no tie-up with bigger parties like the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and would rather prefer smaller regional parties as partners in the crucial election.

    Asked about the chance of any tie-up with the AIMIM, he did not show any inclination.

    Speaking at the conclave of News 24 immediately after Yadav, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the SP and the BSP for taking 75 per cent Muslim votes by raking up the fear of the BJP but doing nothing to uplift their living standards.

    In a scathing attack, the Hyderabad MP said prominent non-BJP parties are racing with the saffron party to prove themselves to be a greater champion of the Hindutva cause and charged these parties with promoting majoritarianism in the country.

    “Days are not far when India will have majoritarianism as State policy like Israel,” Owaisi, who has announced that the AIMIM will contest 100 seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls, said.

    He trashed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s claim of no riots in Uttar Pradesh during his rule of four-and-a-half years.

    The 2019 NCRB report says 5,819 communal fights took place in the state, Owaisi said, asserting that it is official data and could be verified.

    He alleged that since the BJP has nothing to show in the Uttar Pradesh polls, Adityanath and others are using words like “abbajaan” and “chachajaan” as part of “divisive” politics.

    He said such like expressions are part of “dog-whistle politics”.

    On the attack at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday, Owaisi said the incident happened at a short distance from a police station and it shows the efforts to “silence” the minority community.

    He also used the incident, in which some right-wing activists have been arrested, to dispel the charge that the “AIMIM plays a friendly match with the BJP in polls”.

    Owaisi alleged that Muslims are being targeted in Uttar Pradesh and reeled out figures that among those killed in police encounters in the state, 37 per cent were from the minority community.

    Yadav said if voted to power, the SP will not implement the “black farm laws” in Uttar Pradesh and will improve the “mandi” system in the state.

    He asserted that in the upcoming polls, Uttar Pradesh will get a new government and that the people of the state want “progressive politics”.

    Hitting out at the state government for the poor law-and-order situation, Yadav said Uttar Pradesh tops in terms of custodial deaths, the NHRC has served maximum notices to the state and a fugitive IPS officer is yet to be caught.

    Taking a dig at the BJP, he said, “The double-engine government is colliding with each other.”

    Asked to comment on his strategy in the upcoming polls as compared to the 2012 election, the SP chief said he believes in the English phrase, “strike the iron when it is hot”.

    He also said the BJP’s strength is its publicity of lies.

    To a question on comparing the organisational strength of the BJP and the SP, Yadav said his party had defeated the ruling party candidates from the parliamentary constituencies earlier represented by the chief minister (Gorakhpur) and deputy chief minister (Phoolpur) in 2018.

    On being asked whether he would be able to match the BJP’s money power in the polls, Yadav said, “A cycle (SP’s poll symbol) does not need diesel or petrol.”

    Earlier, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait claimed that the BJP will not get more than 140 seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls.

    Tikait also said he has no faith in EVMs, adding, “We will not contest any polls.”

    He praised former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and said the credit for land acquisition goes to him.

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave office in the middle of his term and become the president. Yogiji must be promoted and he should become the prime minister,” Tikait said sarcastically.

    To a question, he said, “Is the BJP the custodian of the Har Har Mahadev slogan? We are Raghuvanshis and Ayodhya is our place of birth.”

    BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Misra termed the BJP as “enemy number one” because it has “completely ruined the state”.

    To a question, he said the elephant (BSP’s poll symbol) is the friend of the public.

    Misra’s comments came a day after Adityanath said the ration meant for the common man were gobbled by the “elephant” when the BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh.

    Misra dismissed any possibility of a poll alliance with the SP.

    To a question on whether the BSP will support the BJP in case of a hung Assembly, he said, “No support will be extended to the BJP at any cost.”

  • Yogi govt caught in caste-based matrix; has not delivered jobs, growth: RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary ahead of UP polls

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Asserting that the BJP’s alleged “apathy” towards protesting farmers will hurt it in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary on Sunday said artificial issues such as “love jihad” and “cow terror” will not work as issues of development will win in the elections.

    As the focus shifts from the West Bengal polls earlier this year to the high-stakes election battle in Uttar Pradesh in 2022, newly-appointed Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Chaudhary asserted that his party will not allow a communally polarised campaign to ruin the Hindi heartland state in the run up to the assembly polls.

    In an interview with PTI, Chaudhary, who took over as RLD chief after his father Chaudhary Ajit Singh’s demise last month, said his party and the Samajwadi Party have a good rapport and a strong working relationship.

    He said details need to be worked out for a formal alliance for the polls.

    Asked if a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or a grand alliance is needed in UP to take on the BJP and whether the BSP and the Congress would be part of such an alliance, Chaudhary said, for him, issues come first and an understanding of those needs to be built between all alliance partners.

    “Who can be accommodated depends on who is honestly open to working together on the common framework,” the 42-year-old leader said.

    ALSO READ: MLAs feel CM Yogi Adityanath aloof, relies more on babus

    On whether the Congress would play a significant role in the assembly polls despite its poor showing in the panchayat elections, Chaudhary said he would not like to comment on the Congress’ plans and chances.

    Asked about the speculation over UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s political future as CM and reports about Cabinet reshuffle in the state, Chaudhary said the BJP is just trying to divert attention and create an illusion of dialogue to manage the disgruntled elements in the party.

    “Social engineering doesn’t come about by tinkering with one or two leaders at the top. The fact is that BJP’s Uttar Pradesh government has been caught in a caste-based matrix and has not delivered jobs, economic growth, and efficient governance to people,” he alleged.

    The state government’s Covid response has been atrocious and no one can forget the scenes of dead bodies in the Ganga, he added.

    “Now, after four-and-a-half years to create rumours of change in leadership is a poor attempt to shift focus from failures,” Chaudhary said.

    Talking about the farm laws protests and whether they would be a key issue in the polls, he said farmers will and should be the biggest poll issue in our country, and asserted that as a class they have been denied their rights for far too long.

    ASLO READ: Uttar Pradesh’s health services in bad shape, CM Yogi only concerned about power, says SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

    “The Centre’s new laws are prescribing a takeover of the entire market and value chain by the private sector and the withdrawal of the government from procurement and subsequent monopolisation will hurt producer and consumer interests,” the RLD chief said.

    The “apathy and insensitive” attitude towards the protesting farmers will continue to haunt and hurt the BJP in polls, he claimed.

    Chaudhary has participated in a number of ‘kisaan panchayats’ in western Uttar Pradesh, where his party has had a significant presence over the years, and campaigned aggressively against the Centre’s farm laws.

    Farmers from various parts of the country are protesting at Delhi’s borders against the three farm laws brought by the Centre last year, alleging that the legislations will hamper farming.

    Asked about the electoral chances of the Opposition against the BJP in UP, Chaudhary said “when the nation is grieving and hurting, the Hindi heartland also will respond appropriately”.

    “Love jihad, cow terror, Kairana exodus and other useless artificial issues will be rejected; healthcare, education and balanced development will win (in the polls),” he asserted.

    The Opposition in UP has been alleging that cow vigilante violence is on the rise in the state, a charge denied by the BJP.

    The ‘Kairana exodus’ was a reference to a BJP MP’s claim in 2016 that close to 350 Hindus had left Kairana over alleged threats and extortion by criminal elements belonging to a particular community.

    Asked how he plans to turnaround the fortunes of the party which drew a blank in the last assembly polls, Jayant Chaudhary said, “I am humbled by the opportunity and the faith reposed in me by the Party at this critical juncture.”

    “Chaudhary Saheb’s untimely passing has been a jolt for all of us. Just as any family copes with stress responds by coming together, the office bearers and workers of Rashtriya Lok Dal will need to work cohesively and look to the future,” Chaudhary said.

    For reviving the party, Chaudhary said, as a first step he wants to engage with people who have worked at the grassroots and have political experience.

    He said the party is also in conversation with a lot of leaders from other parties who want to join the RLD and work with us, Chaudhary said.

    Asked if a fragmented opposition will be able to pose a challenge to the BJP in UP, the RLD chief said poll arithmetic has its own rhythms and rules and it’s not as easy to combine different parties and fight elections and assume a “2+2=4 result”.

    “It is not as if the multiplicity of players is helping the incumbent. Some of the parties could also be taking away votes which might otherwise shift to the BJP,” he argued.

    Asserting that it is most important to pick the right issues, Chaudhary said social developmental deficits need to be addressed aggressively if we want the state to progress.

  • PM Modi calls Jayant Chaudhary, express condolences on the passing away of Chaudhary Ajit Singh

    PM Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to Jayant Chaudhary and expressed condolences on the passing away of Chaudhary Ajit Singh.

    Ajit Singh, Former Union Minister and RLD leader and son of former PM Charan Singh passed away. He was 82.

    Singh, a prominent leader in western Uttar Pradesh, was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Delhi after he tested positive for the coronavirus on April 20. Ajit Singh’s condition deteriorated on Tuesday night due to a lung infection. The RLD chief passed away on Thursday.

    “Chaudhary Ajit Singh ji was diagnosed as COVID positive on April 20. He battled his condition till the very end and breathed his last today morning on May 6,” Jayant, the RLD Vice President, said in a tweet.

    Jayant also shared a note on Twitter on behalf of the family members which read: “Throughout his life journey, Chaudhary Sahib was loved and respected by many. He, in turn, cherished this bond with all of you and gave his best consideration and efforts for your welfare.

    “As our nation confronts the horrific pandemic, it is our humble request to all those who wish to pay their respects, to please stay at home as far as possible.

  • Soram village clash pre-planned; happened after announcement from mosque: Balyan

    Three to four people were injured on Monday during the clash at Soram village where Balyan had gone to pay homage to a deceased local.

  • BJP, RLD supporters clash in UP’s Muzaffarnagar in presence of union minister

    By PTI
    MEERUT: A clash broke out between supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal in Muzaffarnagar’s Soram village on Monday when Union minister Sanjeev Balyan turned up there for a programme.

    Local police station incharge Sanjeev Kumar told PTI that three people were injured in the clash.

    A war of words also broke out between BJP leader and Union minister Sanjeev Balyan and RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary over the clash.

    The clash took place when Union minister Balyan was in Soram to pay homage to a deceased local but supporters of his party and the RLD had an argument over the ongoing farmers’ protest against new central farm laws.

    “Clash between BJP politicians and farmers in Soram village, several injured. If there’s no talk in favour of farmers, at least have a good attitude towards them. Respect the farmers! Now farmers will have to tolerate hooliganism of government’s representatives who are telling pros of the new laws,” Chaudhary tweeted.

    Responding to the charges, Balyan said he was in the village to pay homage to a deceased local.

    “Some five to six Lok Dal politicians started misbehaving and hurling abuses. Some locals intervened and sent these people away,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    “The way Lok Dal party is trying to disrupt harmony by hiding behind farmers is condemnable,” he added.

    Soram in Muzaffarnagar is the epicentre of the influential Balyan Khap, which is headed by Bharatiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait.

    Tikait’s brother and BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, meanwhile, appealed to people to maintain harmony.

    “If a public representative comes to your village, do question him but keep it in a dignified manner. Everybody has a right to put forth their views in a democracy and a public representative must also keep public’s sentiments in mind,” Tikait said in a statement.

    He said the government should consider farmers’ request.