Confined to the western region for long, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) senses a chance of making a surprise impact this time beyond its traditional stronghold, primarily through political turncoats.
With the help of leaders who have joined the party after quitting the SP, the BJP, the Congress and the BSP, the RLD hopes not only to prove its presence in east and central Uttar Pradesh, including Bundelkhand, but also to win a few seats. The party has declared candidates for 270 seats and the names of another 46 are in the pipeline.
Ravindra Singh Patel, a party general secretary, says the number could reach 350. The remaining seats will go to the nine backward caste-based and farmer parties with which the RLD has joined hands. They include the Nishad Dal, the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Loktantrik Sena, the Republican Dal and the Samtamulak Dal.
However, the RLD is banking on defectors and claims it has found more than two dozen seats where it can impact the outcome or win in east and central parts of the State. In 2012, the party won only nine seats, all in the western parts. “This time, we are confident of opening our account outside western Uttar Pradesh. Some candidates, with a strong base of their own, have joined the party,” RLD spokesperson Anil Dube said.
Muzaffarnagar and after
As it tries to repair the Jat-Muslim relationship in western Uttar Pradesh, which was hit by the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, the RLD is quietly making gains — at least in candidature — in the rest of the State. In Lucknow, Sharda Pratap Shukla of the SP defected to the RLD. Now, he is the party’s candidate for Sarojini Nagar. Another SP MLA Chandra Rawat had filed her nomination as RLD candidate from Mohanlalganj; but for reasons unknown, she withdrew it on Friday evening. The former BSP MP from Jaunpur, Dhananjay Singh, is expected to file his papers as RLD candidate in Malhani. In Jaunpur itself, the RLD got a shot in the arm: the former Machhali Shahar MP, Umakant Yadav, joined the party earlier this week as a general secretary. His son Dinesh Yadav will be fielded at Shahganj in Jaunpur.
Vinod Tripathi, who stood second in two consecutive elections from Shravasti as a BSP candidate, will now be the RLD nominee. At Isauli in Sultanpur, Yashbhadra Singh Monu is the RLD nominee.
The former dacoit, Malkhan Singh, has joined the RLD and will be among its star campaigners. Malkhan Singh, who had campaigned for the BJP in 2014, has managed to get five seats for his family members in Bundelkhand. The former Chief Minister and Governor Ram Naresh Yadav’s son Ajay Naresh Yadav will fight from Pulpur Pawai in Azamgarh. The RLD hopes to put up a strong fight at Fatehpur and Bahraich too.
RLD chief Ajit Singh’s son Jayant Chaudhary is expected to campaign for the “strong candidates” outside western Uttar Pradesh, a party leader said.
In its stronghold, too, the RLD has become a haven for defectors. In Mathura, it is banking on the three-time former MP, Kunwar Manvendra Singh. His son Kunwar Rishiraj is fielded in Chata. The former BSP Minister, Naraya Singh Suman, is the RLD candidate for Agra Rural. His son and former MLC, Viru Suman, will fight from Agra Cantonment.
The former Minister and BJP leader, G.B. Pushkar, is contesting from Tundla in Firozabad. The expelled SP MLAs, Mukesh Sharma and Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit, will contest from their traditional seats in Bulandshahr: Shikarpur and Debai. In Kairana, the RLD has nominated Anil Singh Chauhan, the nephew of BJP MP Hukum Singh. In Jehanabad, the former BSP MLA, Aditya Pandey, is the RLD candidate.
