RLD okay with 3 Seats, even SP and BSP have sacrificed seats: Ajit Singh

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh, who will be contesting from Muzaffarnagar, hopes to snap the BJP’s grip on West UP by winning this seat. He told ET that the BJP turned this seat into a centre of polarisation from where it wrested control of West UP. However, things have changed with farmer politics changing on this landscape and the ruling party politicising the Pak air strikes.

Excerpts:

On contesting three LS seats

This is not about who is contesting how many seats. When you fight for a bigger goal, everyone makes sacrifices. Even BSP and SP are not contesting the seats they contested earlier. We all have discussed it at length and reached an agreement. This election is all about saving our constitution and democracy which is being destroyed by the current government.

On pact with Congress
The BSP-SP and RLD alliance was in the offing for long and we all were having discussions. Even before Jayant and Akhilesh made the announcement the other day, you all wrote that RLD is in the alliance. We did what was in the best interest of the state and the nation.

On contesting from Muzaffarnagar, a seat never won by RLD
Muzaffarnagar was the centre of polarisation by the BJP in 2014. It gained here and won all the seats in West UP. I want to end their communal politics in West UP by defeating them in Muzafffarnagar. I have been regularly visiting and organising Bhaichara meetings for the past one year and it is people of Muzaffarnagar who want me to contest from here. My victory from Muzaffarnagar would mark the end of BJP in West UP.

On PM Kisan scheme
For the past four and a half years, Modi ji did nothing for farmers. Now, with elections round the corner, he has announced a support of Rs 2,000. A farmer can’t even get a tank full of diesel for his tractor with Rs 2,000. First, farmers’ loans should be waived across the country and they should get the MSP promised to them.

On farmer’s taking central space in political discourse
Over the years, farmers have got divided along caste and communal lines and that resulted in farm issues taking a backstage. Now farmers realise that, be it from any community, they face similar problems. They have united in the past one year and you saw the by-poll results in Kairana.

On Pulwama attack
What happened in Pulwama is tragic and we all are with the Indian Army. We are proud of our Indian Air Force which did the airstrike in Pakistan.