Chaudhary has developed fissures in ties with Akhilesh Yadav over seat-sharing in recent polls.
There has been a buzz in the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) that its chief Jayant Chaudhary is not so happy with Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav. This has led the BJP to reach out to him (Chaudhary) to negotiate terms and possibly bring him under the umbrella of the NDA. However, according to sources, he may have rejected to be a part of the saffron camp.
A source close to Chaudhary said that a top BJP leader talked to Chaudhary to discuss the future of his politics. Moreover, Chaudhary was also offered better options in order to get in peace with the saffron camp. The developments come after it was clear that Chaudhary has developed fissures in his “cordial relationship” with Akhilesh Yadav. The fissures developed after the two parties’ differences over seat sharing in the recently held local elections. It was said that the Samajwadi Party boss had fielded candidates on several seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh (where the RLD is strong) without taking its alliance partner in confidence. A party insider said, “Jayant was really unhappy after that episode and moreover the Samajwadi Party is trying to be more assertive these days. They want to expand and consolidate their voters. It seems to be less in their mind to have an alliance where they will have to share seats and let their rank and file support the common candidate. They seem to want to be an all dominant party.”
Second, it is believed that Akhilesh Yadav is solidly trying to spread bases in areas where Jayant Chaudhary has considerable popularity. Sources suggest that the Samajwadi Party boss has made several possible candidates as in-charges of constituencies where Jayant Chaudhary is expecting to field a candidate from RLD and this has led to a tense situation as well as a deadlock between the two leaders. An RLD leader said, “Akhilesh has made his probable candidates as in-charges in constituencies which are the stronghold of Jayant Chaudhary. He has already made his in-charges on four Lok Sabha seats like Muzafarnagar, Kairana, Bijnor and Meerut.”
Third, as there are already murmurs within Samajwadi Party that Chaudhary has been soft towards Congress and has never been so soft towards Samajwadi Party. Party insiders say there is also a resentment over alliance formations by both the leaders (Jayant and Akhilesh), and Jayant Chaudhary wants to go with Congress and also wants Samajwadi Party to come into the alliance. However, there are enough reasons for Samajwadi Party to distance itself from the alliance with Congress to protect its cadre by not giving up on its electoral space. A political analyst said, “Akhilesh is trying to strengthen its electoral space and even if there is alliance, other parties won’t be allowed to contest on the number of seats as they would demand. He is currently only thinking about expansion and to elevate his cadre. This has led to the friction between the two leaders. Moreover, Akhilesh Yadav is also not very positive about joining hands with Congress. It will erode his voter base. Nonetheless, he has said that he is going for a broad-based Opposition alliance. It is to be seen what terms he will agree on over his alliance with the grand old party.”