RLD seals pact with BJP in UP,gets 7 seats

The tie-up talks had been initiated by party general secretary and in-charge for Uttar Pradesh,Arun Jaitley,more than six months ago,and acquired certain urgency after party president Rajnath Singh zeroed in on Ghaziabad to contest the parliamentary elections.

“It’s a positive development. I had given an indication of this agreement three days ago,” BJP president Rajnath Singh told The Indian Express.

Ajit Singh’s son Jayant Chaudhary,who will contest the Mathura seat as part of the arrangement,said: “The alliance should be fruitful. The workers of the two parties should work together to build a credible alliance.”

The RLD had initially sought eight seats but eventually settled down for seven,including the seat of Sitapur in central UP. RLD’s likely list for UP then could be — Ajit Singh (Baghpat),Jayant (Mathura),Anuradha Chaudhary (Muzaffarnagar),Devendra Nagpal (Amroha),Ram Ashray Verma (Sitapur),Munshi Ram Pal (Nagina). The party is yet to decide on its candidate for the Hathras seat.

BJP leaders said the alliance hoped to win “as many as 10 seats out of the total 25 in western Uttar Pradesh”.

With Advani out of Delhi for a day,and Ajit Singh too out of Delhi for a couple of days,a formal announcement on this,however,may have to wait till February 26 when the BJP’s Central Election Committee meets to decide its next bunch of candidates,including those from Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP had been trying hard to sew up an alliance in UP,but Kalyan Singh had voiced strong reservations against the tie-up. Ajit Singh,similarly,was exploring other options till the very last minute. However,with Rajnath putting up hoardings in Ghaziabad eulogizing Charan Singh,it had become apparent that the party was on its way to clinch a deal with the Jat-dominated party.