BJP will try to inflame emotions after air strikes but it has failed on national security: RLD's Jayant Chaudhary

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) will contest from the Muzzafarnagar, Baghpat and Mathura seats in the SP-BSP-RLD grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh and though BJP will try to stoke passions among people after the surgical strikes against Pakistan, the alliance will stress on how the saffron party has failed on the national security front, RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary told ET in an interview.

“Ajit Singh will contest from Muzzafarnagar and me from Baghpat. Kairana, which we won in the bypolls, will be fought on an SP ticket,” Chaudhary told ET, two days after he shared the stage with Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow to formalise the alliance.

Though no leader from BSP had shared that stage, Chaudhary said the joint statement issued had Mayawati’s signature. “So, it is with her consent and approval that such decisions were taken. I am in touch with her over the phone and when she comes to Delhi, I will pay her a courtesy visit. I have gone and met her in the past as well,” he told ET. He said RLD was happy with the three seats as “when you negotiate and have alliances, you have to adjust”.

The air strikes after Pulwama have led to BJP raising the nationalistic pitch, a factor that the alliance is up against. “Voting decision is always an emotional one. Therefore, BJP will try and inflame emotions so that people are not able to think rationally on what the BJP has achieved. This is a challenge for us to drive the campaign and narrative to real issues,” said Chaudhary, adding BJP has performed very poorly on national security too.

“Why did Pulwama attack happen? What was the failure that led to it? There were more infiltrations and more jawans got killed during the BJP regime. On one hand, we will raise farmer and youth issues, but we will also talk about how BJP has failed on national security,” Chaudhary told ET.

He took on PM Narendra Modi as well. “For the first time, you have a PM who is creating the grounds for war, who is openly war-mongering, who is crying for retribution. BJP can say it took corrective measures and inflicted lot of punishment to Pakistan, but the country isn’t interested in punishment or retribution. I think it demeans our position and belittles our position in the international community. We don’t need our retribution as much as we need our security,” said Chaudhary.

The RLD leader also expressed confidence that the alliance will be able to bring together the Jat and Muslim voters in west UP after the 2013 riots scarred relations between both communities. “The run-up to 2014 was marred by lot of violence and religious tension. People have learnt from that episode and they are willing to wipe away those blots. The only way to do that is to come together at the social and political level.

“You have seen them come together in the Kairana bypoll -- that was the foundation of the RLD (Jat and Muslim voters). Naysayers said a Muslim candidate was put up by us in the ground zero of migration and riots, but the flower of solidarity and fraternity bloomed there,” Chaudhary said.

He said more than just the seats, the SP-BSP-RLD alliance has a clear understanding of the future path and a meeting of strategic objectives. “Now it is up to us how we communicate the larger story and our long-term strategy to our workers and our own voters on the ground and translate what we have been thinking as leaders,” said Chaudhary.