JOIN USThe Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal party was decimated in the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha 2019 polls this time but senior party leader Jayant Chaudhary is undeterred by the results, saying "a person who has not tasted defeat, has actually not lived his life".
There were some hopes of the party making its presence felt in the political landscape of the state in May last year during the Kairana bypolls, when the BJP lost to the joint opposition candidate, RLD's Tabassum Hasan.
However, this time Hasan (SP) lost to BJP's Pradeep Kumar by a margin of 92,160 votes.
Buoyed by the victory of the joint opposition candidate in the Kairana Lok Sabha bypolls, talks of 'mahagathbandhan' of opposition parties (SP, BSP and RLD) had gained momentum in the state.
However, the joy was short-lived, as in the parliamentary elections, the SP could not improve its 2014 tally and bagged five seats, while the BSP gained 10 seats. The RLD, which had fielded three candidates, failed register a win on even a single seat.
RLD candidates Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary lost from Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat Lok Sabha seats respectively, while Kunwar Narendra Singh lost from Mathura.
In a video message on Saturday, Jayant Chaudhary had said, "The BJP has registered a massive win in the Lok Sabha elections. I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all newly-elected MPs. The entire nation is pinning its hopes on newly elected MPs that they will work for betterment of farmers, poor and traders. We will continue to contribute our bit in nation building. The constituents of the mahagathbandhan have worked very hard, and I want to thank all workers for their hardwork."
"For young RLD workers, my message is 'jo haara nahi woh jiyaa nahi' (a person who has not tasted defeat has not actually lived his life). We should take a lesson from this, and at every turn of life, there is scope of self-improvement. I am not at all disappointed, and want to assure you that we will continue our fight for farmers' rights," he said.
However, UP BJP media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi told PTI, "This Lok Sabha election has proved to be the ultimate nemesis for the Rashtriya Lok Dal. Henceforth, the RLD will not be in a position to forge an alliance with any political party.
"Only when the RLD decides to merge itself with any party, will any political party accept it. The father-son duo of Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary have been unsuccessful in managing the legacy of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. The arrogance (ahankaar) of Ajit Singh has been completely shattered in this election."
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, RLD candidates had to forfeit their deposits in six of the eight Lok Sabha seats they contested from Uttar Pradesh. The party managed to poll only 0.86 per cent of total votes in the state.
The father-son duo had lost the elections from their respective seats in 2014 as well.
The party's performance was equally dismal in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections -- RLD contested 277 assembly seats but 266 of its candidates lost their deposits. Only one RLD candidate -- Sahender Singh Ramala from Chhaprauli assembly constituency -- emerged victorious.
But he, too, left the RLD for BJP in April last year.
In the UP Legislative Council, there are no RLD MLCs, as the term of party MLC Chaudhary Mushtaq ended in May last year.