MEERUT:
An impressive turnout at a ‘Vijay Sankalp Rally’ organized by the
Lok Dal
held in the Meerapur region of Muzaffarnagar under the
Bijnor
LS constituency on Sunday has suddenly raised eyebrows particularly after it is clear that Rashtriya Lok Dal (
RLD
) is aligning with the BJP in the forthcoming General Elections.
“RLD has lost its significance after aligning with BJP.
There is a palpable anger among a large section of farmers who feel alienated by this new political arrangement in the sugar belt of UP and they need change. Our Party is an amalgamation of all faiths, castes, unemployed, etc. Now Lok Dal is the only option for farmers.”, Vijendra Singh, National General Secretary Lok Dal and LS candidate for Bijnor told TOI.
Lok Dal is trying to portray a secular image to draw Muslim and Dalit farmers too. Attacking BJP, Vijendra Singh said, “We do not have to talk only about a temple or a mosque or a church or Gurdwara, we have to take everyone together and that is our motto and principle. A flower never differentiates between a temple and a Mazaar and that’s what our identity is.”
Notably, Lok Dal is the splinter group of the original Lok Dal founded by the former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1979 after merging several regional parties including Janata Party (secular), Socialist Party and Orissa Janata Party. However, multiple splits in the years that followed and the rechristening of their names considerably reduced its existence and now only a splinter group of the original Lok Dal exists headed by Sunil Singh.
“Farmers have been rendered orphan. Which is the Party they can associate with now? Who will speak for them now? It is Lok Dal which still runs on the principles of Chaudhary Charan Singh for whom benefit of farmers was supreme. Today’s gathering is a clear reflection of how much farmers are unnerved by the RLD. There is no
alternative
except Lok Dal now”, added Sunil Singh, president of Lok Dal.
Khatri Khap president Akhilesh Chaudhary said, “Farmer doesn’t know religion or caste. Agriculture is his primary religion and we are with that Party which doesn’t differentiate based on caste or religion. And at this moment, the only political party that works on that principle or which has not compromised for decades is the Lok Dal.”
