Uttar Pradesh Election 2022: Akhilesh Yadav, Jayant Singh tweet photo; is SP-RLD alliance sealed?

Akhilesh Yadav, president of the Samajwadi Party, and Jayant Chaudhary, chairman of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, met to discuss seat-sharing for 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
Yadav previously stated that his party's affiliation with the Rashtriya Lok Dal is completed and that only seat sharing is being considered. Both leaders posted images of their meeting on their respective Twitter accounts on Tuesday. What drew the attention were the subtitles made by Yadav and Singh.

Yadav is seen clutching Singh's hands in a photo shared by the SP head, with the message "with Jayant Chaudhary on the road of progress." Meanwhile, the RLD head posted a photo with the Samajwadi Party chief with the message "badte kadam."

Masood Ahmad, state president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, stated that both leaders met in the state capital and "there is a conversation on seat sharing." According to Ahmad, the number of seats for which the RLD will be eligible to run in the elections early next year has yet to be determined.

Also Read | UP Elections 2022: State government likely to rename Yamuna Expressway after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Previously, Jayant Singh said that the RLD and SP will decide to form an alliance by the end of November to fight the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Akhilesh Yadav has also formed a coalition with Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). The two parties ran in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections along with Mayawati's BSP. An alliance between the two for state polls in early next year aims to consolidate Muslim and Jat support in key western UP districts. After the violence in Muzaffarnagar in 2013, which analysts think helped the BJP win the lead in the region, relations between the two populations deteriorated.
 

• Uttar Pradesh Election 2022
• Akhilesh Yadav
• Jayant Singh
• Samajwdi Party
• RLD