Gopalganj: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will not field candidates in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, party chief Lalu Yadav said clarifying his party’s position on Tuesday. His statement has come at a time when ally JD(U) is working hard to gain grounds in poll bound Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav said that the decision was taken keeping in mind the secular votes, which he claimed could split if his party contested Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017.
“My party will not contest UP elections as we don’t want to split secular votes there”, RJD Chief Lalu Yadav said on Tuesday.
RJD which is an ally of JD (U) had won Bihar assembly elections in 2015 by contesting together. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the contrary has decided to extensively campaign for his party JD(U) and had also decided to field candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the elections which is to be held in 2017.
According to JD (U) insiders, “party’s prime focus will be the eastern part of the state as it touches Bihar and Nitish Kumar is popular in those areas”. They said, “His decision to impose ban on liquor in Bihar has made him popular in UP and other parts of the country”.
Though Lalu Yadav remained tight lipped over Nitish Kumar’s decision to field candidates in Uttar Pradesh but said that his party’s main agenda was to defeat communal forces.
“Our agenda is to stop BJP and RSS from coming to power in the country and we will continue to work in that direction. We will support secular forces in Uttar Pradesh”, Yadav said.
Reacting sharply, opposition BJP took a swipe at Lalu Yadav’s statement and said, “he keeps saying these things only to remain in the limelight. The fact is that both JD(U) and RJD are regional parties and has no support base anywhere outside Bihar”.
However sources close to Lalu Yadav told this newspaper that his decision not to contest UP elections was because of his family relations with Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Lalu Yadav’s youngest daughter is married to Mulayam Singh Yadav’s grandnephew.
