The meeting between Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary in the lounge of Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh airport on Sunday created a flutter in political circles and media about a possible tie-up for the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Curiously, photos of the hour-long meeting went viral on a day when Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav told a news agency that the alliance with the RLD had been finalised and that discussions on seat-sharing were on.
While the RLD president termed it a mere “speculation” of the media, sources in the State Congress said the party did see the RLD as a “potential partner” in the state.
The RLD chief stated that there was “no plan or discussion on an alliance with the Congress.” “I made my statement in Lucknow on my positive ongoing conversation with the Samajwadi Party. After that, this meeting happened at the airport. People who know me, understand that I don’t change my view in a matter of one hour,” he told The Hindu.
‘An informal chat'
Senior RLD leader Shahid Siddiqui, who was present during the meeting, described it as “an informal chat over Lucknawi chaat” where the possibility of “an alliance was not discussed”. He said the party was in an alliance with the SP but didn’t rule out the possibility of a broader alliance with the Congress to keep out the BJP.
“It was a mere coincidence that the two leaders met but it is a fact that after seeing the tremendous response to Jayant Singh’s rallies in west U.P. over the last one month, every party wants to align with the RLD,” he said. “There could be a broader alliance with the Congress but neither the RLD nor the SP could unilaterally decide on it.”
Mr. Siddiqui, a seasoned journalist, pointed out it was unfortunate that a section of the national media that completely ignored the news of the release of the party manifesto suddenly woke up after seeing the photo of the two leaders together.
Observers feel that it could be a ploy to bargain more seats from the SP in west U.P., where the RLD feels it could do better than its partner, riding on the farmers' movement. "The SP and the RLD are natural allies but in its current form, the RLD needs to contest from a respectable number of seats as it could defeat the BJP," said a senior party leader, requesting anonymity.
‘A potential partner’
Vivek Bansal, senior Congress leader from west U.P. and party’s Haryana in charge, observed that when two political leaders meet, they do discuss politics. “I don’t know about broad or narrow but we are looking at the RLD as a potential partner in the Assembly elections. It is up to them to take a call.” He didn’t deny the media speculation that the meeting was arranged by Haryana Rajya Sabha member Deepender Hooda, who is known to be close to the RLD president.
Interestingly, Imran Masood, Congress strongman from Saharanpur, recently urged the party to align with the SP in a television interview as it didn’t have the cadre to make an impact at the grassroots level.
“It was Mr. Masood’s personal opinion. The party will take a call on it,” Mr Bansal said.
Notably, in her Gorakhpur rally on Sunday, Ms. Vadra targeted the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
