Ending days of speculation around his exit from the INDIA bloc, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary on Monday announced that his party has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Decoratic Alliance.
The development comes as the second blow to the INDIA bloc in a day that earlier saw veteran Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announce his departure from the party amid indications that he was set to join the BJP.
Jayant’s announcement came on the birth anniversary of party founder and his late father Chaudhary Ajit Singh. The development particularly comes as a setback to the Samajwadi Party and Congress who were set to contest the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the RLD. Last month, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav announced that the SP and RLD had arrived at a seat-sharing arrangement that will see the RLD contest on 11 seats in the state.
Speaking to reports following his announcement, Jayant said that the decision was arrived at after speaking to all party MLAs and workers. Jayant further said that no significant planning went behind the decision as it had to be taken in a short span of time “because of the situation”.
The decision of the RLD, seen as a formidable force in the western Uttar Pradesh region, to ally with the BJP could prove to be a game-changer in Uttar Pradesh that has 80 Lok Sabha seats. In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the NDA bagged 71 of them despite the farmers’ protest as the Jat voters rallied behind the party.
RLD’s entry into the BJP, while largely inconsequential for the latter, may still be able to push its tally a few more seats. For the INDIA bloc, the development marks another significant blow amid talks of the grouping failing to present itself as a formidable force against the BJP.