Naqvi meets Ajit Singh, UP tie-up on cards

“It was an informal meeting. Nothing more should be read into it,” said Naqvi. Ajit Singh, on the other hand, told The Indian Express: “He (Naqvi) was in Bhagpat, and called up saying that he wanted to see me. There’s nothing more to it. I also met Deve Gowda during the day.”

The meeting, lasting a little over half-an-hour, saw the two sides “exchanging notes”. A top RLD leader said alliance talks, as and when they happen, would involve “more leaders”. It was BJP general secretary, in charge of elections in UP, Arun Jaitley, who initially floated the idea of a tie-up with the RLD during his visit to Lucknow for the state BJP executive meet some two months ago.

While party’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani has been exploring options to improve party prospects from Uttar Pradesh, sending as many as 80 members to the Lok Sabha, party president Rajnath Singh, too, wants to have a say in his home state. While Jaitley is close to Advani, Naqvi is considered to be close to Rajnath.

The RLD, too, had two views on a tie-up with the BJP. One influential MP, whose seat has a sizable BJP presence, was especially interested in a tie-up with the BJP. After having jolted by the BSP, the RLD, reports say, is coming around, and may eventually tie up with the saffron party.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh had spoken about the “fickle nature” of Ajit Singh a couple of days ago, saying that the “Jat leader could have achieved so much more if he had shown the steadfastness of his father Chaudhary Charan Singh”. The UPA Government had even renamed the Lucknow airport after the late Charan Singh hoping that the RLD would join the Congress camp.

Ajit Singh, however, chooses to bide his time. “I’m only worried about the...