LUCKNOW: It’s official. The nine MLAs of the Rashtriya Lok Dal will vote in support of the eight candidates of the BJP during polling for Rajya Sabha elections on Tuesday, in what preludes formal coming together of the Jayant Chaudhary-led outfit with the saffron pantheon ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due soon.
RLD legislative party leader and Budhana MLA Rajpal Singh Baliyan confirmed to TOI that all nine legislators will vote together in support of the BJP-led NDA.”There should be no confusion. We are with the NDA,” he affirmed.
Besides Baliyan the other eight RLD MLAs include Ajay Kumar (Chhaprauli), Anil Kumar (Purkazi), Ashraf Ali Khan (Thana Bhawan), Ghulam Mohammad ( Siwalkhas), Chandan Chauhan (Meerapur), Pradeep Kumar Singh (Sadabad), Prasann Kumar (Shamli) and Madan Bhaiyya (Khatauli).
All nine MLAs later met CM Yogi Adityanath in Lok Bhawan and announced party’s support for the BJP candidates in the RS polls. Earlier in the day, the legislators gathered at Baliyan’s residence in Bahukhandi and held a meeting before meeting the saffron brass. On Sunday, the party MLAs held an exhaustive meeting with Jayant in Mathura to hammer out all the nitty gritty of the party’s stand vis-à-vis BJP.
The development attained much significance amid reports that a host of party MLAs happened to show allegiance towards the opposition bloc INDIA while being supportive of voting in favour of the SP-Congress combine in the RS elections. In fact, Jayant had to clarify that his decision to go with the NDA was taken after due consultation with his party MLAs.
RLD legislative party leader and Budhana MLA Rajpal Singh Baliyan confirmed to TOI that all nine legislators will vote together in support of the BJP-led NDA.”There should be no confusion. We are with the NDA,” he affirmed.
Besides Baliyan the other eight RLD MLAs include Ajay Kumar (Chhaprauli), Anil Kumar (Purkazi), Ashraf Ali Khan (Thana Bhawan), Ghulam Mohammad ( Siwalkhas), Chandan Chauhan (Meerapur), Pradeep Kumar Singh (Sadabad), Prasann Kumar (Shamli) and Madan Bhaiyya (Khatauli).
All nine MLAs later met CM Yogi Adityanath in Lok Bhawan and announced party’s support for the BJP candidates in the RS polls. Earlier in the day, the legislators gathered at Baliyan’s residence in Bahukhandi and held a meeting before meeting the saffron brass. On Sunday, the party MLAs held an exhaustive meeting with Jayant in Mathura to hammer out all the nitty gritty of the party’s stand vis-à-vis BJP.
The development attained much significance amid reports that a host of party MLAs happened to show allegiance towards the opposition bloc INDIA while being supportive of voting in favour of the SP-Congress combine in the RS elections. In fact, Jayant had to clarify that his decision to go with the NDA was taken after due consultation with his party MLAs.