New Delhi: For the second time within two weeks, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary’s pro-Muslim stand has created a buzz in Uttar Pradesh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is raising the Hindutva pitch.
On Wednesday, Jayant posted a news article of Organiser, the mouthpiece of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on ‘X’ with the message: “Policing towards Orwellian 1984!”
The news was about the Meerut Police’s warning that anyone found praying on the streets will be booked, potentially arrested, and face cancellation of their passports, and driving licenses.
As the police direction came ahead of Eid celebrations, Chaudhary cryptically compared the situation of the present day Uttar Pradesh with the political system—mentioned in George Orwell’s famous novel ‘1984’—in which the government tries to control every part of people’s lives.
Soon, RLD national secretary Anupam Mishra lauded his party chief’s post on ‘X’, saying that “it takes immense courage and unwavering conviction to call out what is wrong, no matter the consequences”.
On 12 March, Jayant had posted another news story of BJP MLA Ketki Singh’s call for a separate Muslim wing in a medical college. In his note posted in Hindi on ‘X’, the RLD chief said,“Mohtarma illaj toh hoga (treatment will definitely happen).”
ThePrint has learnt that Jayant, a Union minister, came up with the posts to give a message to the cadre as there were voices of dissatisfaction, particularly among Muslim leaders, for the past few months, after the RLD sealed its alliance with the BJP in 2024.
Jayant had run a ‘Bhaichara Zindabad’ campaign before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls to bridge gaps between Jats and Muslims in areas like Muzaffarnagar, where riots took place in 2013. His focus was on Jat-Muslim unity but after 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the RLD chief had distanced himself from his past initiative.
“A section in RLD, including some MLAs, raised the issue in our internal meetings that from the past few months that if we have to survive in electoral politics in western UP, then we need to raise minority issues. The Muslims comprise above 25 percent in more than 30 seats in western UP where the RLD contested in 2022 assembly polls,” a senior RLD leader told ThePrint,
Jayant, according to this RLD leader, took the cue from the party functionaries.
In the past as well, Jayant took a strong stand in favour of minorities during the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests. The RLD leader had reached Muzaffarnagar to visit the family of a Muslim man who was killed in the CAA protests in December 2019. It was his such initiatives that led to many local leaders from the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress joining the RLD before the 2022 UP polls.
But, according to a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, it is not the first time that Jayant has raised a question on the UP administration.
“Earlier too, he targeted UP when the ‘nameplate’ row in western UP. He raised questions on that decision. Interestingly, he has never raised issues on the Union government’s decisions, as he is also part of the Union government. But, he does support the Yogi government. He also understands the current equations of the Centre and the state. For him, the Centre is more important,” the BJP MP told ThePrint.
Calls to Jayant about his stand on Muslim support went unanswered. This report will be updated as and when a response is received.
Also Read: Muslims are safest in Uttar Pradesh, says CM Yogi Adityanath, defends ‘bulldozer justice’
The ‘M’ factor
Several functionaries in the RLD claim that Jayant did not want to ruin his efforts on the Jat-Muslim unity. “It may also affect our party’s bargaining power in 2027 as a section of Jats are already with the BJP. If Muslims also boycott RLD, then what will be left for the party to do politics in western UP?” a senior party functionary told ThePrint.
Many Muslims, a senior RLD leader from Shamli district said, had distanced themselves from the party in the region since Jayant joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in March last year.
“So, for the party’s welfare, he needs to raise minority issues strongly. He still has a good will among the Muslims. In his last years, (Jayant’s father) Chaudhary Ajit Singh also put much efforts to re-unite the Jats and the Muslims. Chaudhary sahab cannot forget the tradition,” Israil Mansoor, the RLD leader, told ThePrint.
Another party functionary gave an insight of the political strategy that was behind Jayant’s campaign before the polls in 2022.
“Jats constitute around 6-7 percent of the population but hold influence in about 50-60- assembly seats where they are present above 15 percent in numbers. Muslims, on the other hand, are over 25 percent of western UP’s population. So, Jayant focused on uniting these blocs to strengthen his party. Now after shifting in the NDA, the party is facing credibility issues among the Muslims,” the RLD functionary explained.
Shilp Shikha Singh, a UP-based political analyst, too, explained that the minorities were a major constituent in the RLD’s Jat-Muslim alliance.
“The ‘Muslim community has an influence in western UP where Jayant’s party is active. So, he definitely will want to take them along as his party leaders share a bond in that community,” the assistant professor at Lucknow’s Giri Institute of Development Studies told ThePrint.
“There must be many other factors also involved; that is why Jayant has taken a stand on minority issues. Apart from that, he never gave any anti-minority statement.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: BJP gets a shot at redemption in Ayodhya as Milkipur bypoll date out. Why party’s oozing confidence
