BJP’s Meerapur plan may strain ties with RLD

Lucknow: The BJP is reportedly considering the candidatures of two former RLD functionaries, who later joined the saffron outfit, for the Meerapur assembly seat. The bypoll for the seat, along with eight other constituencies in UP, is scheduled for Nov 13.
This development has, unsurprisingly, sent ripples within the Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD, a BJP ally, which has been staking its claim to contest the seat left vacant after its MLA, Chandan Chauhan, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bijnor.
Informed sources in the BJP said that the party was considering the names of former Rajya Sabha MP Rajpal Saini and former MLA Mithilesh Pal, who were previously with the RLD. Both joined the BJP in 2023.
Experts said that the situation could lead to intense discussions between the BJP and RLD, potentially testing their alliance ahead of future electoral contests. This could also bring the spotlight back on the BJP's bid to balance its internal candidate considerations while maintaining harmony within the alliance.
Before joining the BJP, Rajpal Saini contested the 2022 Khatauli assembly election on an RLD ticket but lost to the BJP's Vikram Saini. Vikram later lost his assembly membership following a conviction related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots. In the December 2022 by-election, the BJP fielded Vikram's wife, Rajkumari Saini, but she was defeated by the SP-backed RLD candidate, Madan Bhaiyya.
Rajpal Saini began his political career with the BSP and won the Morna assembly seat (Muzaffarnagar) in the 2002 election, defeating the SP's Sanjay Chauhan by about 7,000 votes. Interestingly, Sanjay happens to be the father of the incumbent RLD MP Chandan Chauhan. Saini, however, lost to the RLD candidate Kadir Rana from the seat in 2007 by a margin of around 5,000 votes. The BSP eventually sent Rajpal Saini to the Rajya Sabha in 2010.
Likewise, Mithilesh Pal also has an interesting political journey. She was elected to the UP assembly from the Morna seat in the 2009 by-election on an RLD ticket, the same year the RLD formed an alliance with the BJP. The seat had been vacated by Kadir Rana, who switched to the BSP and won the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Muzaffarnagar.
Pal contested the 2012 Meerapur assembly election on an RLD ticket but lost to BSP's Jamil Qasmi by a margin of 12,000 votes. She then contested the 2016 Muzaffarnagar assembly by-poll, necessitated following the death of SP MLA Chittranjan Swaroop. However, she lost the seat to the BJP's Kapil Dev Agarwal. Pal subsequently joined the SP in 2017 after the RLD denied her the ticket to contest. The SP also denied her a ticket in the 2022 assembly elections, prompting Pal to quit the party and join the BJP.
RLD sources said that the party was bargaining hard with the BJP for Meerapur. Speculations have been rife about the RLD mulling the option of fielding Chandan's wife, Yashika, from the seat. Likewise, former BSP MP from Bijnor, Malook Nagar, who joined the RLD just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has also been pressing for his candidacy.