Farmers Movement Archive

SP, RLD seal poll alliance; formal declaration soon

LUCKNOW The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Tuesday sealed an alliance for the 2022 UP Assembly polls and also discussed the seat-sharing formula, said people aware of the development in both the parties.“Now, the alliance is likely to be declared formally within a day or two,” said Anil Dubey, RLD national secretary and spokesperson.The alliance between the two long-standing partners in UP was a foregone conclusion as both Akhilesh Yadav, president of the principal opposition party in UP and Jayant Chaudhary, president of the RLD, a largely western UP support base party, had frequently been saying that the alliance was almost final and will be announced formally before the end of November.“The alliance was finalised in a meeting between Jayant and Akhilesh at the latter’s residence on Tuesday. The meeting lasted nearly two hours,” said an RLD leader.The RLD is likely to contest 30-40 seats (mostly in western UP) in alliance with the SP, said sources. Both Akhilesh and Jayant tweeted their pictures after the end of the meeting. In a tweet in Hindi, Akhilesh said: “Towards the change with Shri Jayant Chaudhary.” Jayant also tweeted: “Badhtey kadam (steps forward).”The SP has already announced an alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar’s eastern UP based Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SPSP) and a few small parties, including the Mahan Dal. Alliances with more small parties are in the offing including his politically estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L). Since the loss in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party had been reiterating that it would not ally with any big party because of the bitter experiences in the past (with Congress in 2017 UP Assembly polls and with Bahujan Samaj Party in 2019 Lok Sabha polls).The RLD enjoys support among farmers of western UP and is on the same page with the SP on the issue of opposing the Centre’s three farm laws. Experts said the RLD’s prospects in western UP regions look improved since the farmers’ agitation after the central government introduced the three contentious laws.The RLD and the SP have been constant companions since the 2017 UP assembly elections and contested all the assembly and Lok Sabha bypolls together since then.“This alliance seems mature with their long-standing partnership and no discord ever surfacing between the two. Both the leaders also exude the same wavelength and both parties are likely to gain in 2022 polls,” said professor SK Dwivedi, political analyst and former HoD, political science, Lucknow University.

Hindustan Times

23-11-2021

Lucknow