'Get Rid Of Western UP Tag': Jayant Chaudhary's RLD Plans Expansion In Jat-Dominant Areas Of Haryana And Rajasthan

Buoyed by the recent success in the Lok Sabha elections, the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) plans to expand the party to other parts of Uttar Pradesh, as well as Rajasthan and Haryana.

After having zero MPs in Lok Sabha for a decade, the party finally has two MPs, from Baghpat and Bijnor. Chaudhary is a Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Narendra Modi government.

Now the party plans to capitalise upon its Jat vote bank by expanding to Jat-dominant regions of neighbouring states -- Haryana and Rajasthan. Notably, Haryana is set to go to Assembly polls later this year.

RLD is considered to be confined only to the Western UP. Even during its peak in the early 2000s, the party could not go beyond this region.

However, RLD national secretary Anupam Mishra has said now, "We will build our organisation of the party in eastern and central UP too."

The statement came after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Izhar Ahmed Shah joined the RLD a couple of days ago. Shah has been active in Bahraich and Devipatan divisions for decades.

"Shah’s joining will help us in reaching out to the Dalit and Muslim communities. We have made up our mind to get rid of the tag that our party is restricted to western UP," said Mishra.

RLD sources suggest that Jayant Chaudhary has called a meeting of party functionaries and from the next month onwards, work on expanding the party's footprint to neighbouring states will begin.

Chaudhary has said that as a Union Minister, it is his responsibility to expand the party. RLD's national general secretary Trilok Tyagi reiterated similar sentiments of expanding the party's footprint.