HAVING lost his father Ajit Singh to Covid last year, Jayant Chaudhary, 43, is gearing up for his first Assembly election as head of the Rashtriya Lok Dal. The family legacy goes down even further, to western UPs foremost farm leader, former prime minister and Jayants grandfather Charan Singh. Born in Texas, US, with a degree in accounts and finance from LSE, Jayant has proved sceptics wrong by energising his party that won just 1 seat in 2017 and forging an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav that has been generating a lot of buzz. As west UP, the only region of the state where the RLD has a credible chance of making an impact, heads to polls in the first phase on February 10, Chaudhary gives a wide-ranging interview while on the road from Shamli to Muzaffarnagar during a hectic schedule.
For your birth, your grandfather held a party that came to be known as birthday diplomacy. Indira Gandhi came, a government got formed It heralded a new kind of politics, of unlikely interests coming together. Are you in a way taking that forward?
There are no set formulas, you have to respond to the environment, circumstances, and try for what is best for your constituency. Thats what politics is ultimately about. Its about creating solutions, negotiations, a common minimum sort of agenda. There are always differences but you have to resolve them democratically Of course parties are found around certain ideas Politics devoid of ideology will not take us forward I respect anyone who sticks to their ideological position (but) you can try different combinations politically that work on the ground.
What is the core idea or principle that the RLD represents?
We represent the hinterland really. Even though some parts of the region are in the vicinity of Delhi you find a level of deprivation. So taking the villages forward, reforming the agricultural system and rural development are the issues I feel strongly about. I track issues like climate change and there is a need for technology and more innovation even in our rural society.
Where would you place yourself in the conventional left, centre and right streams of thought?
We are more on the liberal side, the central side. We stand up for individual freedoms. And thats why we respect the sanctity of citizen movements, and were vocal about the farm agitation. The farmers were well within their rights to pressure their representatives, ask their government to roll back a law. Similarly on land acquisition my personal Bill was on correcting the imbalance of power between the Centre and the state and citizens You cant take land without the consent of the individual. So in that sense we are more liberal, pro-people.
Yes, the State is important. It needs to provide social security, parity in relationship between industry and agriculture, and farmers or labourers But we never asked for crude market interventions So we are not against private industries coming in but there need to be safeguards. Take the sugar industry. Chaudhary Ajit Singh provided licences to so many of the industries that are still providing service to farmers and consumers There is a way for the farmer to get legal redress.
Have you ever felt that the RLDs past, particularly your fathers constant switching of sides between parties, has affected your present?
I dont think we should question decisions taken in the past. There were a set of circumstances we can never truly understand today. That was the coalition era. It was about refashioning the non-Congress movement, the Janta Parivar splintering into many factions, the rise of the regional players, the rise of Mandal (Commission) and other factors He had to respond to those situations. Right now there is an enabling environment for farmers to cut across those narrow lines and work together. The iron is hot and we are trying to create a larger social coalition than our traditional vote bank.
You come from a region where people have a strong sense of community. Do you think RLD votes will get smoothly transferred to the SP and vice-a-versa?
Younger people today have a stronger voice in that community and they are connected with each other. They follow what we are saying on Twitter, where Akhilesh and I are moving. Sitting in Muzaffarnagar they know what we have said in Agra. And our chemistry and communication have been very, very to the point, focused on real issues. That message has gone down very well. We ran a lot of programmes to build a rainbow coalition, as you said. So its a long-term project. This election is just the beginning.
How tough do you find the rough and tumble of politics, particularly in the absence of your father?
You need the counsel of elders. But, in a sense, it (the loss of elders) happens to everyone. And Chaudhary Ajit Singh empowered me a lot. He trusted my decisions, gave me responsibility in the organisation. So its not as if the issues were not known to me or that I didnt have a relationships already with voters. I have crisscrossed entire UP, we have worked hard. This first election people will abide by my decisions There are so many candidates (for our tickets) because the environment is so positive. In every seat we got 20 applicants. I am happy to say that the 19 who didnt get tickets all of them have stuck with us.
So you think they have accepted you as their leader?
I think they want to give us a chance.
You said earlier that you would have been open to the idea of working with the BJP had it chosen the middle path instead of going so right. But a sizeable section likes its muscular brand of nationalism and identity politics.
They did, but ultimately they (the BJP) have caused so much harm to the society and economy that people have been forced to reconsider. Those hardships are creating an environment where people now want to come together. They dont want tension, divisive language, which is very crude, negative. Leadership should be about positive ideas It might work when there is emotional trauma like after the Muzaffarnagar riots it will not work in every circumstance.
Your father held the SP as responsible for the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots as the BJP.
The SP was in power (at the time). Obviously these questions were posed to the SP. But I feel, in hindsight and I have had that conversation with Akhilesh ji there were things he could have done better and he is also aware of it. When we have decided to come together, its pretty clear we are not going to let such incidents or riots happen again. There will be zero tolerance for hatred, for people who incite hatred, who are part of this culture of encouraging riots. We are going to provide good governance. Rule of law must be respected by everyone. We are both very clear on this, and if you look at our leadership, our background, we are educated, we are young, we are taking about new ideas, about development. People can have the faith and confidence that we will not do anything that will give the state a negative direction.
So you spoke to him about the riots before the poll pact?
We discussed a lot of things. He spent five years in the Opposition Its very clear that the principle of social equity, social justice, harmony, these are going to be at the core of our government.
What is the vision that you are offering in terms of development, be it education, health or infrastructure?
Ajit Singh was development oriented and there was a time when Muzaffarnagar was one of the highest per capita income districts in the country. And if a small farmer with 2-3 bighas was able to educate children in Delhi, Meerut, Ghaziabad, it was due to our strong, development-oriented focus. We favour providing support to those industries which are not as much capital-intensive but labour-intensive At the same time we are talking about new ideas, about spurring innovation. In our manifesto, we have spoken about grants, scholarships to scientists coming up with patents in ideas or areas like renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, artificial intelligence. We talk about blockchain in our manifesto. These are very new-age ideas the knowledge economy is going to take us forward. We have a target of Rs 25,000 crore investment in food processing, which is going to be the next wave, with farmers getting better prices for their produce. Right now there is huge wastage procurement is very minimal because of the lack of packaging, branding, storage. Farmers get a very small share of what the consumers in the big cities are paying. That is where we have the maximum room to grow.
Why is senior BJP leader Amit Shah repeatedly reaching out to you?
He is trying to isolate the Jats, like they did in Haryana. Thats it Its not a gesture made out of goodwill. If it was, they would have done so before the elections, before we had struck our alliance, with efforts to reconcile the issues we have been very vocal about. (Ajay ) Teni is still a Union minister, the farmer agitation has been called off but none of the issues have really been addressed. They invoke (my) Jat identity because they feel it will help them break away some of the other communities today working with us.
How are you attempting to broaden your social base?
Through initiatives like Bahujan Uday Abhiyan, Nyay Yatra. We spoke about the Hathras victim, the April 2 (2018) cases against Dalits (over all-India protests), and have had a bhaichara programme with Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in rural areas. When people sit together, eat together, work together, vote together, you create lasting relationships that can withstand pressures That is the Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb. There may be a small incident that disrupts it, but now this region has again gone back to its historic default.
Do you think the wounds of the 2013 riots have healed completely?
No, it takes time. For those families directly affected, it will take time. But that does not mean politics is going to be governed by those issues anymore. People want to forget and forgive, and they have as well.
The poll verdict on March 10 will have a far-reaching impact on national politics. What is your take?
We are at an inflection point for national politics. This mandate is going to provide a lot of support to farmers across the country and they will take confidence from this. If we somehow fail to muster the support required, I dont think we will see the sort of agitations (farmer, etc) that we have witnessed for the last 30 months.
Why did you visit the residence of the Tikaits on Sunday, four days ahead of the polls?
The visit was about sending out a message of solidarity. Sisauli has a special significance in the history of the farmers movement. We have known the Tikait family for long. On Sunday, I met Naresh Tikait, who blessed me.
Was there a larger message in the visit?
Yes, it essentially conveys that we stand united in the cause of farmers. There is no room for any ambiguity.
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