Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh seems to have decided to continue with the Samajwadi Party-led coalition in Uttar Pradesh, at least for the time being, going by his decision to contest the by-elections with his ally. The RLD will contest two of the 12 Assembly seats but leave both the Lok Sabha seats to the SP. The elections are slated for October 13.There has been intense speculation in the last few months that Singh is ready to break ties with the Mulayam Singh government and join the UPA Government at the Centre, with the latter having promised him a Cabinet berth. But the talks continued to drag on, with Singh weighing the pros and cons of joining the Central Government.The RLD was also assiduously wooed by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government to keep it on their side — with just 14 MLAs, the party has got six ministers — three with Cabinet rank and three ministers of state (one with independent charge).And the Mulayam government also paid the RLD handsomely after it was forced to downsize the ministry, by allotting several important ministries to them. For instance, RLD Cabinet Minister Kokab Hamid was given additional charge of Tourism, and MoS Babulal was given additional charge of Non-Conventional Energy. Only two weeks ago, at least three MLAs were given charge of crucial corporations, beginning with Singh’s own sister, Gyanvanti, who was made chairperson of the Social Welfare Board. Meanwhile, Singh has continued to keep the heat on the Mulayam government by raising issues like demand for a separate state of Harit Pradesh, apart from publicly decrying the dismal law and order situation. ‘‘We are part of this coalition in UP and it will continue, but we do have our differences like in any coalition. One, we do want Harit Pradesh and two, lawlessness in the state must be curbed,’’ says Singh.The RLD leader has asked the CM to withdraw the security being provided to ‘‘history-sheeters’’ in the state and revoke the gun licences issued to them. ‘‘Also, there are many police personnel with criminal cases and they should be removed,’’ he says.Singh will also have to take a decision on the matter of the choice of candidate for Bagra constituency, which fell vacant after State Minister Anuradha Choudhury won a Lok Sabha seat. ‘‘We will decide by September 22 on who will be the candidate,’’ he says.
