SP-RLD alliance seeks to alter electoral equations in west UP through Chandrashekhar, 'Tyagis'

Chandrashekhar had formed the Azad Samaj Party and commands considerable influence over the Dalit community in the western districts of UP

Apparently buoyed by its victory in the recent bypoll in the Khatauli assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar district, the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance now plans to include Bhim Army president and firebrand Dalit leader Chandrashekhar alias Ravan in its alliance and reach out to the electorally influential 'Tyagi' community in the 'Jat'-dominated western UP region in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

The SP-RLD nominee managed to wrest the Khatauli seat from the BJP by a margin of over 22,000 votes in the bypoll indicating that the former received support not only from their core vote bank of 'Jats, Yadavs' and Muslims but also from Dalits and other communities. This is especially the case with the 'Tyagis', whose leaders, angry over the alleged humiliation' of Shrikant Tyagi over the Noida 'Slapgate' case, had vowed to vote against the saffron party in the poll.

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The alliance leaders here said that Chandrashekhar, who had formed the Azad Samaj Party and commanded considerable influence over the Dalit community in the western districts of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Baghpat and some others, had agreed to join hands with them in the 2024 general elections. Chandrashekhar had extensively campaigned for the alliance nominee in the Dalit-dominated villages in the Khatauli constituency.

RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary had also dropped hints that Chandrashekhar would be a part of the alliance in the state in 2024. "It's not a one-seat alliance. We will be together in 2024, also," he had said.

The alliance also plans to cash in on the anger prevailing among the electorally influential 'Tyagi' community members. The community leaders had organised a series of panchayats before the bypoll wherein they had decided that the members of the community would not vote for the BJP in the bypoll. They were angry with the BJP for what they termed 'abandoning' self-proclaimed saffron party leader Shrikant Tyagi, who was arrested in August on charges of abusing and assaulting a woman inside a residential society in Noida.

According to political analysts here, Chandrashekhar's entry into the SP-RLD alliance and the support of some other communities could pose problems not only for BSP supremo Mayawati but also BJP. "A sizable section of the Dalits had supported the BJP in the 2022 assembly polls. Any shift in their support may alter electoral equations in the region,'' said a Lucknow-based political analyst.