RLD upbeat on tieup with Cong
The much awaited Congress-RLD tieup for next year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections is likely to be announced any time. RLD chief Ajit Singh is tipped to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the company of senior party leaders over the weekend to mark the conclusion of seat-sharing talks.
The RLD camp appeared upbeat on Friday on the seat adjustment with the Congress for the UP polls. “Tomorrow you will know the good news. The announcement of a tieup is very much round the corner,” said a senior RLD leader. RLD chief Ajit Singh and his son, MP from Mathura Jayant Choudhary, is learnt to have met Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday. The meeting was stated to have been attended by Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh and senior functionary Mohan Prakash.
The RLD is likely to contest about 40 Assembly seats in UP while the party had been demanding 50-55 constituencies. Mr Ajit Singh is also expected to get a berth in the Union Cabinet after a minor reshuffle which could take place after the Winter session of Parliament. Mr Singh’s personal preference had been the agriculture ministry, which is almost ruled out as the portfolio is headed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar. However, the rumour doing the rounds is that Mr Singh could be in the reckoning for the ministry of food and public distribution.
The RLD is also likely to get assurances from the Congress for its stamp of approval for its key demands for western UP, including a bench of the Allahabad high court in the region. The tieup is apparently taking place in a bid to consolidate the Jat-Muslim vote base in favour of the alliance and also in an attempt to give an alternative to the BSP, which enjoys a strong base in western UP.
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