"On Alliance With Congress, Opposition Parties Will...": UP Politician

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary on Friday said his party's alliance with the SP will continue while a decision on a possible tie-up with the Congress will be taken only after consultation with other opposition parties.

The RLD leader launched the party's 15-day 'samrasta abhiyan' from here during which he will tour several villages to spread the message of harmony in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. The campaign will conclude on June 3 at Chandpur, Bijnor.

"There is an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and it will continue. Regarding an alliance with Congress, the opposition parties will think about it," the RLD president told newspersons here.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has already supported West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's assertion that her party will support the Congress where it is strong in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Supporting Ms Banerjee's statement for opposition unity at the national level, Yadav had recently said the party which is strong in a state should contest elections there.

The SP aligned with the Congress for the 2017 UP Assembly polls but faced a crushing defeat as the BJP won 312 of the 384 seats contested by it in the 403-member house.

Since then, the SP has maintained distance from the Congress in the state even though it did field any candidate against the party in Rae Bareli and Amethi in the previous Parliamentary polls.

The Congress too reciprocated and did not field a candidate against Dimple Yadav in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll last year.

Jayant Chaudhary credited party workers for the "success" in the recent civic body elections in Uttar Pradesh, saying neither he nor any other "big" leader campaigned for the polls.

Though none of the opposition parties won any of the 17 mayoral seats, the SP and RLD won posts in the nagar parishads and nagar panchayats.

He congratulated the party candidates who won the civic elections and asked them to respect everyone, including those who did not vote for them.

"Give respect to all. Take everyone along and ensure development," he said.

The RLD president said according to the 2011 census, 28 per cent of people live in cities which means development did not take place in the villages.

That's why people are migrating to cities. In such a situation, the responsibility of providing basic facilities to the local bodies increases, he said.

He said he was sure that like his grandfather and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh and father Ajit Singh, former Union minister and founder of the RLD, he too will receive the blessings of the people of Baghpat.

Baghpat is in Jat-dominated western Uttar Pradesh which is considered to be an RLD bastion.

Highlighting the significance of the 'samrasta abhiyan', he said the country needs to be united.

"There is no such thing as Hindu-Muslim and we all are one and live in one country," he said.

The 'samrasta abhiyan' was launched by Ajit Singh and he addressed a series of 'sammelans' in different districts of western UP as part of the campaign. After his death in May 2021, Jayant Chaudhary decided to continue the campaign.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)