चौधरी चरण सिंह की औलाद यही करेगी

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) may put off its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in UP to join hands with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Party insiders said that RLD boss Ajit Singh Singh was already in touch with Ahmad Patel, the political advisor of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Party sources that some senior leaders of Congress have also approached the RLD chief seeking his support for the UPA, even as it has kept its past allies like the Samajwadi Party at a distance. While Ajit Singh was not available for comment, senior party functionaries confirmed that the party was in touch with the Congress. ‘‘We cannot say anything at this moment,’’ RLD state general secretary Munna Singh Chauhan said while talking to TOI. Chauhan said that the party had indeed been approached by the Congress. ‘‘But we have yet to decide on our future course of action,’’ he said. RLD was already ruing its alliance with the BJP after it suffered a major setback when Anuradha Choudhary and Munshi Ram Pal lost the elections from the Muslim-dominated seats Muzzafarnagar and Nagina. Party sources said that these two defeats were seen as significant despite the fact that the party improved its performance from three seats in 2004 to five this time. A senior RLD leader said that the increased tally in the general elections has come as a morale-booster for the party. ‘‘The performance cannot be dumped anyway,’’ a senior party leader said, in an apparent hint that the RLD may seriously think of joining the UPA. A senior party leader said that their alliance with BJP proved beneficial to the latter as BJP’s national president went on to win the Ghaziabad seat with a majority of Jat voters supporting Rajnath Singh. But RLD had to face setback as Muslim voters drifted away from Choudhary, resulting in her loss. Party workers said that she was quite confident of her win. She had won the Kairana seat in the 2004 general elections by over 3 lakh votes. This time however, she opted for Muzzafarnagar, apparently thinking of further increasing the winning tally for the RLD. A known opportunist, Ajit Singh, had entered into alliance with the Congress in 1999 general elections against the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA and fought 2004 polls in partnership