UP: Alliance With Samajwadi Party Done; RLD Chief Discussing Jat-Muslim Formula With Akhilesh, Say Reports

Ahead of the 2022 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary has reportedly said that he will not contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election.

The RLD is fighting the election in an alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Chaudhary has formally announced the alliance. A report on the Economic Times website has said that Chaudhary made the announcement at his party's national executive meeting which was held on 7 January.

Chaudhary is reported to have met Yadav in Lucknow. The two leaders had discussions on seat sharing, reports say.

The RLD is looking at fighting from 24 constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh in alliance with Samajwadi Party, the ET report says, whereas another report mentions that the Samajwadi Party "might give 30 to 32 seats to the RLD, of which five to seven may have an SP candidate contesting on the RLD symbol."

A report on the website of the Hindi daily Jansatta mentions that the two parties are not able to arrive at the seat sharing numbers. It also mentions that the RLD wants to fight from 40 in its alliance with the Samajwadi Party while the Yadav-led party is willing to let the RLD fight on 33 seats and talks are still on regarding seven seats.

Yadav shared a post on Twitter where he shared a picture of the two leaders in a meeting. Yadav said in a post that he was in talks with Jayant Chaudhary on the future development of Uttar Pradesh:

The region is important for the two parties. The repealing of the controversial farm laws by the Centre in 2021 in the farming-centric belt is expected to play a role in the upcoming election.

The region is known for the influence of the Jat community in the state's electoral scene. Yadav and Chaudhary also discussed the "strengthening" of the Jat and Muslim combination.

The ET report adds: "Additionally, eight SP leaders will contest in the region on the RLD's symbol."

The RLD will be launching a door-to-door campaign in the villages ahead of the election. The campaign is named "gaon-gali dastak" and is expected to take place between the second week of January and February 12 to mark the birth anniversary of former RLD chief Ajit Singh.

The RLD has previously allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party and with the Congress for its fight in the western region of the state.

Sections of the media have mentioned in their reports that Yadav and Chaudhary discussed community and caste equations for fielding their contestants. Also present at their meeting was farmer leader Sompal Shastri, who had defeated Chaudhary Ajit Singh in a Lok Sabha election to become the agriculture minister in the BJP-led government at the Centre under former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Shastri is known for his experience and knowledge of the western UP electoral scene and had met Jayant Chaudhary last year.