In a bid to restore ties with the Tikaits, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary on Sunday, met with Bharat kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait in UP’s Sisauli. Sharing photos of the meeting, he said Tikait had assured the farmers’ support to the SP-RLD alliance. The 403-seat UP assembly goes to polls in seven phases from February 10- March 7. Results will be announced on March 10.
RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary meets Naresh Tikait
Chaudhary’s meeting with Tikait comes amid BJP wooing him. Union Ministers Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan have offered Jayant Chaudhary to join the BJP post-polls. However, that offer has been rejected by Chaudhary, who claimed, “Invite those +700 farmer families which you have destroyed, not me. I am not a 50-paisa coin, won’t flip.”
Chaudhary said that the BJP did nothing for farmers and the police force was used against students in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “In such an environment, how can they think that anyone would join hands with them?”. Chaudhary has held multiple joint poll rallies with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and has been given 100 seats to contest in the alliance. The farmers’ alliance Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has refused to contest polls, but has thrown its support against BJP in all poll-cound states.
RLD-Tikaits
Incidentally, the Tikait family is close to late RLD chief Chaudhary Ajit Singh and other Jat leaders including Indian National Lok Dal’s Abhay Singh Chautala and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party’s Hanuman Beniwal – all of whom have thrown their support behind Tikait. Rakesh Tikait had contested in the 2007 UP Assembly elections from the Khatauli seat with Congress support and the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ticket from Amroha – failing to win either. He was also instrumental in helping Balyan win Muzaffarnagar in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, defeating RLD’s Ajit Singh – a decision which Tikait has regretted.
UP Poll campaign
BJP has announced that it will fight along with allies Nishad Party and Apna Dal (S) under the leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath. On the other hand, SP has refused to ally with big parties like Congress or BSP, opting to ally with smaller parties like Mahan Dal, NCP, SBSP, RLD, PSPL. BSP chief Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. Chandrashekhar Azad’s Bhim Army is in alliance with 35 other parties, Owaisi’s AIMIM has tied with JAP and BMM to contest on all 403 seats.
In a bid to restore ties with the Tikaits, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary on Sunday, met with Bharat kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait in UP’s Sisauli. Sharing photos of the meeting, he said Tikait had assured the farmers’ support to the SP-RLD alliance. The 403-seat UP assembly goes to polls in seven phases from February 10- March 7. Results will be announced on March 10. RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary meets Naresh Tikait Chaudhary’s meeting with Tikait comes amid BJP wooing him. Union Ministers Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan have offered Jayant Chaudhary to join the BJP post-polls. However, that offer has been rejected by Chaudhary, who claimed, “Invite those +700 farmer families which you have destroyed, not me. I am not a 50-paisa coin, won’t flip.” Chaudhary said that the BJP did nothing for farmers and the police force was used against students in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “In such an environment, how can they think that anyone would join hands with them?”. Chaudhary has held multiple joint poll rallies with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and has been given 100 seats to contest in the alliance. The farmers’ alliance Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has refused to contest polls, but has thrown its support against BJP in all poll-cound states. RLD-Tikaits Incidentally, the Tikait family is close to late RLD chief Chaudhary Ajit Singh and other Jat leaders including Indian National Lok Dal’s Abhay Singh Chautala and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party’s Hanuman Beniwal – all of whom have thrown their support behind Tikait. Rakesh Tikait had contested in the 2007 UP Assembly elections from the Khatauli seat with Congress support and the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ticket from Amroha – failing to win either. He was also instrumental in helping Balyan win Muzaffarnagar in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, defeating RLD’s Ajit Singh – a decision which Tikait has regretted. UP Poll campaign BJP has announced that it will fight along with allies Nishad Party and Apna Dal (S) under the leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath. On the other hand, SP has refused to ally with big parties like Congress or BSP, opting to ally with smaller parties like Mahan Dal, NCP, SBSP, RLD, PSPL. BSP chief Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. Chandrashekhar Azad’s Bhim Army is in alliance with 35 other parties, Owaisi’s AIMIM has tied with JAP and BMM to contest on all 403 seats.