LUCKNOW: The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), led by Jayant Chaudhury, a minister in the Modi cabinet, has joined the league of BJP allies in Uttar Pradesh who have decided to contest next year’s rural local body polls independently.
Prior to RLD, Apna Dal (S), SBSP, and NISHAD Party, another had decided to go their own way in the Panchayat elections due next year. The decision of the BJP allies to contest independently is seen as a politically significant development ahead of the 2027 assembly polls.
As per the RLD sources, the party plans to contest “a good number” of seats independently, especially, in western UP, to consolidate its position in the politically crucial western UP.
Around a month back, Union Minister and Apna Dal (S) Chief Anupriya Patel asserted that her party would contest the panchayat polls independently while claiming that there had been no discussions with the BJP or any other allies over the upcoming polls.
The party sources claimed that the exercise of appointing in-charges in every assembly seat was already on. On the other hand, SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, a cabinet minister in the Yogi government, also confirmed that his party would contest alone and that Varanasi will be the centre of their election strategy.
“The party plans to focus on district-level candidate selection and assigning responsibilities,” said an SBSP leader.
The party sources claimed that the decision to contest independently was driven by the fact that a number of party workers were unable to contest assembly or parliamentary elections and that they needed to be compensated by the party.
Similarly, NISHAD Party Chief and UP Minister Dr Sanjay Nishad has also declared his party’s independent approach but said that the NISHAD Party would support the BJP for positions like District Panchayat President and Block Pramukh.
BJP’s key allies' positioning to explore an independent electoral path in the 2025 rural local bodies elections underscores both their political assertion and a tactical recalibration ahead of the 2027 UP assembly polls.
Political experts believe that the BJP allies may not break away from the BJP-led NDA at the national level, but they seem to be reasserting regional autonomy to expand their vote share in their core territories, particularly among OBCs and farmers.
Significantly, the panchayat election is an opportunity for parties to mobilise cadres, test local leadership, and build narratives in the run-up to future battles.