Jayant Chaudhary, who looks ahead to ‘regain’ west Uttar Pradesh’s Jat vote bank that had shifted to the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections following the Muzaffarnagar riots, was on Tuesday appointed as the new national president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
The decision to elevate the 42-year-old Chaudhary, who was till now the party vice president, was taken during a virtual meeting of the party’s national executive, according to an RLD statement.
His father and former Union Minister Ajit Singh, who had founded the RLD, died on May 6 due to Covid-19.
RLD’s Jat vote bank rapidly declined since 2014 and by the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, it had lost all three seats it contested in UP as part of the grand alliance.
Ajit Singh lost to BJP’s Sanjeev Baliyan in Muzaffarnagar, while Jayant lost to BJP’s Satyapal Singh in Baghpat - both in close contests. RLD also lost the third seat of Mathura with BJP’s Hema Malini winning from there for the second time.
The party, however, has made a striking comeback in the recent ‘panchayat polls’. Along with the RLD, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party too have made good gains in UP which will go to Assembly polls next year.
Jayant has been running the party after his father lost his Lok Sabha election in 2019 and making all key decisions, including that of backing the ongoing farmers’ protests against the farm laws on the outskirts of Delhi led by Bharatiya Kisan Union president Rakesh Tikait, who has a major Jat base in Muzaffarnagar.
The RLD is continuing its alliance with the SP. Whether he has reclaimed the Jat turf in the West UP would be seen in the UP Assembly polls.