RLD back in the corridors of power in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: The induction of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MLA Anil Kumar into the Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Tuesday marks the party’s return to the corridors of power in Uttar Pradesh, ending a prolonged hiatus spanning around two decades.
The RLD’s last stint in power in UP dates back to 2003-2007 when it had its six ministers in the Samajwadi Party (SP) government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP government was replaced by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) under Mayawati in 2007 and the RLD had remained on the sidelines in the state’s politics since.
“We had six ministers in the SP government during 2003 to 2007, including two cabinet ministers, two ministers with independent charge, and two state ministers,” recalled the RLD national spokesman. The ministers from the RLD quota included Anuradha Chaudhary, Kaukab Hamid, Mirazuddin Ahmed, Swami Omvesh, Munna Singh Chauhan, among others.
The RLD’s entry into the SP government in 2003 was also dramatic. RLD founder, the late Ajit Singh, formed a pre-poll alliance with the BJP in 2001 ahead of the UP assembly polls in 2002, after securing a cabinet berth in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government at the centre in 2001.
In 2002, the RLD contested the assembly polls in an alliance with the BJP, winning 14 of the 38 seats contested. However, known for switching political loyalties quite often to stay in power, Ajit Singh walked out of the alliance with the BJP in 2003 and aligned with Mulayam Singh Yadav. Yadav accommodated six RLD lawmakers as ministers for the party, helping him form a coalition government after the Mayawati government collapsed due to the BJP pulling out of the government.
Before the Lok Sabha polls in 2009, the RLD again struck an alliance with the BJP and won five of the seven seats it contested. However, before the 2012 assembly polls, Ajit Singh aligned with the Congress, even as the SP formed the government on its own. The party slipped into political wilderness post-Modi era and remained in that state until the 2022 assembly polls, when it won 9 seats in an alliance with the SP.
Realising his and his party’s political future may be more secure in the BJP-led NDA under the given political scenario in the country, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary preferred to sever ties with the SP and joined hands with the BJP only recently. Now, RLD’s comeback as partner in power in the BJP-led government in UP after two decades is being seen as a big morale booster to the party cadre in the state.
“Now, the party’s return to corridor of powers since 2003 will undoubtedly give much-needed oxygen to the RLD workers, energising them and kindling a new hope in them, and this in turn, may help the party expand its footprint in the state,” pointed out another RLD leader.
Interestingly, in 2003, the RLD separated from the BJP to taste power in the SP government, and 21 years later, it parted ways with the SP to become part of the power structure in the BJP government. The party has come a full circle.