Chautala-Ajit battle for farmers’ votes in west UP hots up

Express News Service

Meerut, May 27: Western Uttar Pradesh is all set to witness a war of two Chaudhrys. Speculation that Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh may join the NDA, much against the wishes of Indian National Lok Dal leader and Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, has pitted the two jat leaders against each other.

The two have already got into a fighting mode. When the burly jat from Haryana, Chautala made a foray into Kosi Kalan in Mathura — considered Ajit Singh’s stronghold — the diminutive, bespectacled Ajit Singh did a quick rebound by holding a rally at Raya near Mathura. For Ajit Singh, this is a question of political survival. Faced with the BJP’s forays into jatland, he has picked up the long-pending demand for Harit Pradesh, a separate state comprising 22 districts of western UP as the his main plank.

Chautala, on his part, too has called for separate statehood in the name of Kisan Pradesh at a rally in Niloha near Mawana in Meerut district.

But speculation that Ajit Singh may join the NDA has thrown things in a tizzy. Chautala, for one, has openly expressed resentment against Ajit Singh’s proposed entry into the NDA.

Ajit, known for his penchant for being in power or close to powers of the day, says he is joining the BJP-led coalition for the sake of Harit Pradesh. But Ajit’s followers, especially Muslims, find themselves in a quandary over his turncoat policies. Former Union Minister Rashid Masood has been openly critical of Ajit’s move. Rankled by the criticism, Ajit recently expelled Masood from the party for six years.

Meanwhile, Chautala is not taking any chances. He is planning to make yet another attack on Ajit’s crumbled bastion of Muzaffarnagar by holding a rally there on June 2.

The Haryana jat — who is showcasing his state as a model to farmers while promising them prosperity — however, has a headstart over his bete noire.
On the other hand, Ajit Singh’s slogan of Harit Pradesh is not cutting much ice with voters because of his poor track record on development.

Despite being close to the powers that be, and in power twice himself as Union minister, Ajit has failed to transform this proximity into gains on the ground.

The peeved electorate handed him a humiliating defeat once in the Lok Sabha elections right in his citadel ‘‘to teach him a lesson’’.

This anti-Ajit feeling, especially among growing ranks of unemployed youth in his own community, has helped the BJP make hitherto unimagined inroads into Charan Singh’s territory.

Political observers feel that the BJP, caught in a Catch 22 situation over the separate statehood issue and dwindling fortunes in UP, will be the one to gain from the tussle between the two Chaudhrys.

As for Chautala, the success of his rallies in Charan Singh’s areas would be a crucial factor in determining his bargaining power with Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, political observers say.