Jayant meets Akhilesh, jt Oppn candidate likely

LUCKNOW: Vice-president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Jayant Chaudhary on Friday met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav amidst speculation that Chaudhary might contest the Lok Sabha by-election from Kairana.

Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur assembly by-elections are scheduled to be held on May 28.

Chaudhary had a three-hour meeting with Yadav at the latter’s residence.

The picture that emerges after the meeting indicates that the opposition is likely to field a joint candidate, possibly of the Samajwadi Party (SP), on both the seats.

“Dono party saath mil kar up-chunav aur Lok Sabha chunav ladengey (both the parties will contest the by-elections and 2019 LS polls together),” national spokesman of RLD Anil Dubey said. When asked if any formula has emerged on seat sharing or candidates in the by-elections, Dubey said it would be made clear in a couple of days.

He said he was not with Chaudhary when the meeting took place but he had a word with the RLD vice-president after the meeting.

Akhilesh is likely to make an announcement either alone or jointly with Jayant in a day or two. Leaders aware of the developments said RLD might not field any candidate on both the seats or may look for a consensus candidate for Noorpur assembly seat.

Soon after the notification of Kairana and Noorpur by-elections, SP had announced that it would field candidates on both the seats. The SP is likely to field ex-minister Kiranpal Kashyap and Naim-ul-Hasan from Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur assembly seats, respectively.

By saying that the Bahujan Samaj Party will not play an active role in the by-elections, party president Mayawati has made it clear that it is unlikely to field any candidate – a scenario similar to the recent Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-elections that the SP won with BSP’s support.

The statement by UP Congress Committee president Raj Babbar also hints that Congress would like to look for a consensus candidate for the sake of opposition unity. Babbar, who is in Karnataka to campaign for the assembly elections there, said over phone: “Although Congress has a good support base in Kairana, the party will like the opposition to put up a joint candidate against BJP. This will be better than showing individual strength in by-elections.”

Kairana Lok Sabha seat had fallen vacant following the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh following an illness, while Noorpur legislator Lokendra Singh died in a road accident in February this year.