In bid to woo divided communities, RLD to raise farmers’ issues

UTTAR PRADESH POLLS

AIMING AT a revival in the Assembly elections, the RLD is planning to woo various communities in western Uttar Pradesh through the larger identity of the farmer.

The party has organised an event in the national capital on Monday, during which it will raise the issue of farm distress and demand loan waiver for farmers.

Leaders of the JD(U), JD(S) and NCP have been invited for the event, and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and former Union ministers Sharad Pawar and Sharad Yadav are expected to attend.

RLD chief Ajit Singh’s son Jayant Chaudhary said his party would demand loan waiver for farmers. “Large populations in villages are dependent on agriculture in western UP, as in other parts of the country. There are farmers in all communities. They are one,” he said.

JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi said, “Communal and caste identities merge in the larger identity of the farmer. We are trying to bridge the communal gap, as be it Jats or Muslims, farmers in both communities face the same problem.”

Ajit Singh invited Deve Gowda for the event while Jayant Chaudhary met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the national capital on Saturday. “Ajit Singhji invited me for the event. It’s about farmers. So I will definitely attend,” Deve Gowda told The Indian Express.

The RLD and JD(U) have already tied up for the polls, and the possibility of an electoral arrangement with the SP is being explored.

Muzaffarnagar in western UP was the centre of the Jat-muslim conflagration in 2013. Western UP was also the cradle of farmer politics, which formed the base of the Bharatiya Lok Dal, headed by former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. The RLD carried on with this support base, but the 2013 riots saw a sharpening divide between Muslims and Jats in the region, that spelt the doom for the RLD in the 2014 elections.