JAT'S THE WAY

It was the farmers’ protests against the Narendra Modi government that tested Jayant’s claim of being pro farmers; and the young Chaudhary lived up to his word.

- PRIYA SAHGAL

Whatever the outcome of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, these elections have seen the making of a leader-RLD chief Chaudhary Jayant Singh. Chaudhary Charan Singh's grandson has been trying on his legacy for size over a decade, but it is only now that the 44-year-old has begun leaving some footprints in the Jat-land of Western Uttar Pradesh. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a major chunk of the votes in the first phase have gone to the RLD and its young chief.

It was the farmers' protests against the Narendra Modi government that tested Jayant's claim of being pro farmers; and the young Chaudhary lived up to his word. Throughout the year long agitation, he was there on ground but not in the forefront as the farmers did not want to politicize the protest. Despite being lathi charged by the Haryana cops, Jayant did not stay away. And when the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre happened, it was again Jayant who was the first politician to reach Ground Zero. Since UP Police was not allowing anyone to visit, he left his official car and trekked for nearly 13 hours with a gamchha wrapped around his face, cutting across fields and bylanes to reach the site.