RLD joining BJP won't impact Muzaffarnagar LS polls INDIA bloc candidate Harendra Malik

    Muzaffarnagar (UP), Apr 16 (PTI) Samajwadi Party leader Harendra Singh Malik, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Muzaffarnagar as INDIA bloc nominee, said the RLD aligning with the BJP will not have any poll impact in the constituency.
    The former Rajya Sabha member is pitted against BJP's Sanjeev Balyan, whom he described as an "accidental leader". Both Malik and Balyan belong to the influential Jat community of western Uttar Pradesh.
    Balyan won from Muzaffarnagar in 2014 and 2019 and served as Union minister in the Narendra Modi-led government.
    In the run-up to the polls, the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)switched sides to leave the INDIA bloc and align with the BJP. The move left many in the region surprised. In the 2019 polls, Balyan had defeated Chaudhary's father and former RLD chief Ajit Singh by a close margin of around 5,000 votes.
    On how he saw this political realignment, Malik said the RLD can do whatever it wishes as it does not have any candidate in Muzaffarnagar.
    "So that (RLD) is no factor here... The BJP will not get any benefit from this (RLD's support)," the Jat leader told PTI at his home here.
    Malik recalled "political FIRs" that were lodged by Muzaffarnagar police during the 2019 elections, including one related to an attack on the convoy of Jayant Chaudhary's wife Charu Chaudhary.
    He said the villagers who protected the convoy were booked by the police and the cases have not been withdrawn till date, leading to angst in the community against the BJP.
    "Maybe Jayant Chaudhary has aligned with the BJP, and it's a political situation where he may align with anyone he wants to. Now even Farooq Abdullah is praising the BJP. But the truth is that supporters of Chaudhary Charan Singh are with us," Malik claimed.
    On the influence of farmers groups in the elections in the region, he said the farmer organisations are apolitical but have an influence which cannot be denied.
    "If they speak in favour of anyone, it is definitely going to have an effect on the poll outcomes," Malik said.
    On the issues he is taking up in this election, Malik said the biggest among them is 'sammaan' (respect) and claimed that the people have been "insulted" in the last 10 years.
    "Apart from this, everyone knows about the rising inflation and corruption. And corruption here is done under his (Balyan's) patronage. Employment is a big issue here among the youth. The youth is jobless and worried. They (government) raised a lot of hopes but did not live up to the expectations and because of all this the people are facing problems," he claimed.
    Commenting on works done during Balyan's two terms as Muzaffarnagar MP, Malik said the BJP leader may say that he has got a model railway station here but he should also highlight when it was approved and the double (rail) track or electrification of the route approved.
    "An integrated goods corridor has been made here but an industrial corridor was proposed in the region but it cannot get made because of his negligence. Otherwise an industrial corridor would have been made between Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur, which was earlier to be made between Meerut and Saharanpur. Had the corridor been made, it would have helped the local youth with employment, work," Malik said.
    "He could not get all this done because basically he is not a political man. I don't know what's happening, all the national media comes here and asks me that he is a big leader. But how come he is a big leader, he is in fact an accidental leader... As far as I am concerned, I don't think he is a politician," he claimed.
    Muzaffarnagar goes to polls on April 19.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)