SHIFTING SANDS

During the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly poll campaign, a statement of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary had gone viral. “Chavanni nahin hoon jo palat jaoonga (I am not a 25 paise coin to flip sides)”, he had said, scotching speculation that he was joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

- Prashant Srivastava

Two years on, with the Centre announcing a Bharat Ratna for ex-prime minister and Jayant’s grandfather, the late Charan Singh, and his response on X (formerly Twitter), “Dil jeet liya (You’ve won our hearts)”, it was clear how that script was panning out.

Days later, on February 12, the RLD chief confirmed that his party was indeed joining the NDA. “I took this decision after speaking to all my party-men. There was no advance planning, we had to make this decision within a short time because of the circumstances,” Jayant told reporters. That would include the Rajya Sabha election on February 27. RLD sources admitted the party’s MLAs were being briefed on this.

The RLD’s exit is the latest blow to the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc. The party is a key player in western UP, especially among the Jat community that constitutes 15 per cent of the population in the eight districts of the region, including Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat.