Acid test for RLD-BJP alliance in UP’s heartland of Jat politics

BAGHPAT: Along the narrow lanes of Baghpat’s Chhaprauli Dehat village, the smiling pictures of former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh and his grandson Jayant Chaudhary don the walls of many houses. It is not an uncommon sight in Baghpat, the land of Jat politics and home to Charan Singh’s family. The peasant leader, who was posthumously conferred with Bharat Ratna, represented Baghpat in Lok Sabha for three terms beginning from 1977. While his son Ajit Singh won Baghpat seven times, his grandson Jayant Chaudhary, lost the seat to BJP’s Satyapal Singh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

However, political equations have changed drastically with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chowdhury joining forces with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) camp. As Baghpat goes to polls on April 26, it will be an acid test for Jayant who stitched up an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. In the three-cornered contest, RLD’s Raj Kumar Sagwan, SP’s Amarpal Sharma, and BSP’s Praveen Bansal are in the fray. Interestingly, it is the first time since 1977 that the RLD fielded a candidate from outside the Chaudhary clan in Baghpat.

Jayant’s cross over to the saffron camp amid seat-sharing talks with his INDIA ally Samajwadi Party (SP) dealt a rude shock for the opposition bloc. The jury is still out on Jayant’s move, says Lokesh Tyagi, a Jat farmer in Pali village.

However, Jaikishan Singh, an ardent supporter of RLD, differs.

“Chowdhury Charan saab brought glory to our village. I don’t think the Modi government gave him the award to get RLD on their side. My family has been voting for the Chaudhary family for generations. Jayant will carry forward his grandfather’s legacy and we continue to support him,” says Singh. It is a common refrain echoed by most of the Jat community in the sugar belt. The alliance will reap benefits for the NDA as it will help consolidate Jat votes, says BJP supporter Kishen Lal Saini, pointing out that the loyalties of the Jats were divided between the BJP and the RLD earlier. “Most of the Jats were unhappy with the RLD’s alliance with the SP. BJP is the natural ally of RLD. Akhilesh’s party is only for Muslims,” says Saini.