With the Uttar Pradesh elections around the corner, poll alliances are the talk of the town. And the latest speculations to join the fray are about a potential alliance between Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and Samajwadi Party (SP). The rumours of the alliance were fuelled further after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted an image with RLD's Jayant Chaudhary, which many are seeing as a hint.
Yadav tweeted the image with the caption, "Shri Jayant Chaudhary ji ke saath badlav ke ore (With Jayant for change)."
The duo met on Tuesday in Lucknow, reportedly to discuss seat-sharing for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
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Yadav had earlier said that his party's alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal is final and only sharing of seats is to be discussed.
"Badhte Kadam," Chaudhary said on his official Twitter handle and also posted a photograph with Yadav.
When asked Rashtriya Lok Dal state president Masood Ahmad said that both the leaders met in the state capital and "there is a discussion on seat sharing".
About the number of seats the RLD will be getting to fight in the polls early next year, Ahmad said it has not been finalised yet.
The RLD enjoys support among farmers of Western Uttar Pradesh and is on the same page with the SP on the issue of opposing the Centre's three farm laws.
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The SP has already announced an alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SPSP). In an interview with Outlook, days after finalising the alliance, Rajbhar said that his alliance had the support of the most backward and OBC community in Uttar Pradesh and that the BJP will be driven out of the state in the 2022 Assembly elections.
With election campaigning heating up in the run up to the 2022 assembly elections in UP, parties have started taking potshots at each other in a bid to maintain pole position.
Addressing a convention of polling booth-level BJP leaders which was also attended by party president J P Nadda, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath mounted an apparent attack on AIMIM chied Asaduddin Owaisi by using the "Abba jaan" moniker.
Owaisi who recently demanded the withdrawal of the law, but the CM’s remark could be interpreted by many as a reference to the Muslim community in general. The CM also referred to the Hyderabad-based leader, whose party is contesting the coming UP Assembly elections, an agent of the Samajwadi Party.
Yadav had earlier announced that he will not be contesting the elections this year. however, his party had later dismissed the reporters as being blown out of proportion by the media.
(With PTI inputs)
