'Jatland' to decide political future of Ajit Singh

Fighting a desperate battle to remain relevant in Uttar Pradesh politics, the political future of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary would hinge largely on the outcome of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Both father-son duo, who were in the fray from Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat Lok Sabha seats respectively, would be undergoing the electoral test in the first phase of the polling on April 11.

RLD, which not long ago, used to rule the 'Jat' land in western UP, could win the lone seat of Chaprauli in Baghpat district, in the 2017 Assembly polls in the state.

The party's vote share also declined sharply to a meager 1.80% in the polls. In the previous Assembly elections in 2012 its vote share was 2.33 and the party had won 12 seats, mainly in the western belt.

On the brink of political extinction after having failed to win even a single seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, RLD hopes to revive itself through its traditional ‘Jat’ vote bank and the joint might of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP with whom it has formed a grand alliance in the state.

Ajit Singh, however, faces BJP's Sanjiv Baliyan, another important 'Jat' leader and according to the political experts the fight in Muzaffarnagar is going to be ''very close''.

''Ajit Singh may get the support of Muslims and SCs... his success will, however, depend on the support of the Jat voters, who had voted for the BJP in large numbers in 2014... As Baliyan is also a Jat, he will split their votes,'' says local scribe Guruvachan Singh Azad.

Jayant Chaudhary too faces a similar situation in Baghpat. Considered to be an Ajit Singh stronghold, the RLD chief was relegated to third spot here in 2014 LS polls.

RLD, which relied heavily on the ‘Jat-Muslim’ combination for its electoral success in the western UP, had suffered a double whammy after 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots. It lost both 'Jats' and Muslims.

Azad said that RLD might feel comfortable by the fact that a section of the farmers, especially the cane farmers, were ''angry'' with the BJP government for its failure to ensure payment of cane arrears, which were to the tune of Rs 10 thousand crore. ''Cane arrears has become a big issue in the polls this time,'' he added.