BJP woos RLD's Jayant Chaudhary as polls near

The development comes amid renewed efforts by the BJP to woo alliance partners in the opposition camp in UP.

Nurturing dreams to make clean sweep in Uttar Pradesh in the next general elections in the state which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, the BJP has extended an olive branch to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), a predominantly 'Jat' outfit having considerable influence in the western region of the state and currently an ally of the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP).

According to sources in the UP BJP, the saffron party wants the RLD to be part of the NDA in the state and assured the latter that it would receive "due respect" within the alliance and also that they would be given an "adequate" number of seats in the state 2024 LS polls.

"An alliance with the BJP will benefit the RLD more in comparison to an alliance with the SP... RLD should join the NDA... they will gain more in the forthcoming LS polls," UP minister and senior BJP leader Kapildeo Agarwal said.

Agarwal reminded the RLD that it had won five seats in the 2009 LS polls, when it had an alliance with the BJP. Incidentally the RLD failed to open its account in the state in the 2014 and 2019 LS elections.

"It is up to the BJP central leadership and the RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary to decide about the alliance but history shows that the RLD has gained whenever it has allied with the BJP," he remarked

Agarwal's remarks assume significance as they come in the wake of renewed efforts by the BJP to woo alliance partners in the opposition camp.

Less than a month back, the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) had joined the NDA, leaving the SP-led opposition alliance. A few smaller caste-based outfits like the Mahan Dal have also joined the NDA in the recent past.

Jayant Chaudhary, though, has not yet commented on joining the NDA, despite giving mixed signals of late by not attending the mega Opposition meets in Bengaluru and Patna on one pretext or the other.

The RLD MLAs' recent meeting with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also given credence to the speculations that Jayant was keeping his options open. "Jayant wants ten seats from the SP in the next LS polls but the latter will find it hard to meet the demand,'' remarked a senior SP leader while speaking to DH here.

RLD has considerable influence over the 'Jat' voters in the western region of UP and the party had wrested the Khatauli assembly seat from the BJP in a by-poll a few months back. BJP would like to bring the RLD into its fold ahead of the LS polls to consolidate its position in the western region.