The Rashtriya Lok Dal, once dominant in the western part of Uttar Pradesh, is once again gearing up to regain lost ground in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
After the 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar, the RLD led by Jayant Choudhary lost the traditional Jat and Muslim votes. With months left for the 2022 assembly elections, the RLD and SP want to correct the rift between the two communities with the help of ‘Bhaichara Zindabad conventions’.
The BJP, however, has called it a “political stunt”, accusing the SP of sowing seeds of discord for the first time in 2013.
So far more than 30 such conferences have taken place in villages and towns of western Uttar Pradesh. People of all religions and castes are usually invited to these conferences to bridge the gap between the communities. Now, RLD is planning to organize these conferences across the state not only till the elections but also after that.
On the purpose of the conference to bridge the communal gap, RLD chief Jayant Choudhary told News18, “We are parallelizing such conferences in many districts. We are also running ‘Nyay Yatra’ for those underprivileged people who are expected to resolve their issues through the political system; Our people are reaching out to such people. Brotherhood Zindabad conferences aim at bridging the gap between communities, it will not be limited to elections only but will continue continuously. We have conducted over 30 such conferences and more are scheduled for next month. “
Interestingly, most of the seats in western Uttar Pradesh are dominated by Jats. The Muslim population in the western part of the state is about 25 percent. The combination of Jats, Muslims, Dalits and Yadavs would add about 50 to 55 percent of the population in this part of the state. Yadav voters may be with the SP, but a large chunk of Jat voters switched to the BJP in 2014. In addition, upper castes, non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits have been with the BJP in the 2014, 2017 and 2019 elections. .
The infamous Muzaffarnagar communal riots took place in August 2013 under the SP rule in which 62 people were killed, 93 injured while thousands lost their homes. After this, Jats were seen standing with BJP in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Its effect was seen when the then RLD chief and Jat leader Late Chaudhary Ajit Singh and his son and current RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary lost the election in their own stronghold.
BJP not impressed
The BJP said that these conferences were only political stunts and were being organized only because of the 2022 elections. Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told News18 that the people speaking brotherhood were looking for political gains.
“When the Muzaffarnagar riots happened, there was no BJP government, when the riots happened, there was a Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav. It was the failure of Akhilesh Yadav that the riots could not be controlled and spread to the villages, Akhilesh was also doing the politics of appeasement and standing with the criminals, which led to more riots,” Tripathi said.
Chowdhary countered this and said that the development of the state stopped as soon as there was a fault line between the communities. “I challenge the ruling BJP to hold a ‘Bhaichara Zindabad Sammelan’, why don’t they hold such meetings? What’s wrong with them?” asked the RLD chief.
Tripathi said the fact is that strict action was taken after the BJP government came to power and not a single communal riot took place. “Criminals are either sent to jail or killed in encounters. Today there is law and order in the state and we have carried forward the message of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ in the implementation of development schemes in the state.”
Not only for Hindus and Muslims
RLD spokesperson Rohit Agarwal said that these conferences were not just for Hindus and Muslims but for all. “There are caste divisions in both Hindus and Muslims and someone has to take the initiative to end them. We do not believe in divisive politics, we believe in taking everyone along. The Bhaichara Zindabad conventions in western Uttar Pradesh are getting a huge response from all sections of the society.
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