Akhilesh-Jayant to strive to consolidate 'Jat-Muslim' equations in west UP through 'Bhaichara Sammelans'

Akhilesh recently had a meeting with Jayant in Delhi to discuss a ''joint strategy' to counter BJP in the western UP districts

Signalling the emergence of a new electoral equation in the 'Jatland' in the western Uttar Pradesh ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in UP, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary have decided to join hands to 'consolidate' their time tested success 'Jat-Muslim-Yadav' formula to take on the BJP.

Akhilesh recently had a meeting with Jayant in Delhi to discuss a ''joint strategy' to counter the saffron party in the western UP districts of Baghpat, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Saharanpur and some others.

As part of the strategy, the RLD has decided to hold 'Bhaichara Sammelans' to bring together the electorally dominant communities, Muslims, Jats, Gujjars and some other OBC communities.

The 'Bhaichara Sammelans', which would be kicked off from Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district, would cover around 50 assembly constituencies in around two dozen districts, mainly in the western region.

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''We want to bring together all the communities on one platform,'' said an RLD leader here. Sources, however, said that the focus would be on 'Jats' and Muslims, who together formed around 40 per cent of the electorate in some districts in the region.

RLD fared miserably in the 2017 assembly polls in UP. It had contested 357 of the 403 seats in the state but could manage to win only one seat. The party candidates had lost their security deposits on all but three seats in the polls. RLD could secure only 1.80 per cent votes in the assembly elections. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls also the RLD had failed to win any seat in the state and its president Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary had also lost from their bastions.

The defeat was largely attributed to the breaking of the 'Jat-Muslim' equation of the party following the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013 which claimed 60 lives and left thousands homeless.

The RLD, however, received a boost from the ongoing farmer agitation in protest against the farm laws and Jayant has been on the forefront in rallying the farmers of the region against the farm laws and attended the farmers' 'mahapanchayats' in different districts.