Used to play the guitar, now I’m a boring man
Used to play the guitar, now I’m a boring man.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) general secretary Jayant Chaudhary’s career is a combination of circumstances and choice. The suave US-born and London School of Economics-educated son of party chief Ajit Singh has picked the rough and tumble of Uttar Pradesh politics as his vocation.
The decision has cost the former investment banker his favourite pastime — playing the guitar and singing.
Spirited debates in Parliament and espousing the cause of farmers, like his father and grandfather, former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, are the beats the 33-year-old Lok Sabha MP from Mathura marches to now. Chaudhary, who is married to Punjabi girl Charu Singh and believes “inter-caste marriages can harmonise the society”, speaks to HT on the dynamics in UP and other issues. Extracts:
Is there any seat-sharing trouble with Congress? The alliance is shaping up well. By and large, issues have been sorted out.
How many seats is RLD contesting? We are going to contest 50 seats. (The party had contested 252 seats in the 2007 polls without any alliance and won 10, all in its western UP stronghold.)
‘We need a polity which can reach out to individuals that can deliver on people’s expectations.’
We need a polity which can reach out to individuals that can deliver on people’s expectations.
RLD General Secretary, the leader of Rashtriya Lok Dal and Mathura MP Jayant Chaudhary is all set to lead his party in U.P. Assembly Polls, 2012.
In a candid conservation with young volunteers associated with “Campaign UP 2012”, the young face of Rashtriya Lok Dal discusses about his vision of Uttar Pradesh, the role of youth in a democracy and his efforts in raising the issues related to the development of the rural economy. Excerpts:
Q: What message you want to give to the young people of Uttar Pradesh? Do you think youth is a “vibrant force of change” in democracy & politics of India?
I believe our democracy and society is at the cusp of transformative changes. I believe the educated youth is challenging the traditional structures & hierarchies and in the process emancipating those who were not in the mainstream.
We will sweep western UP in UP elections: Ajit Singh
We will sweep western UP in UP elections: Ajit Singh
RLD chief Ajit Singh's induction in the Union Cabinet coincided with the announcement of the schedule for the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
He has been forced to juggle his time between the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, which houses the civil aviation ministry, and his residence at 12, Tughlaq Road, where he invariably runs into hordes of ticket-seekers. The 73-year-old sixth term Lok Sabha member from Baghpat, who is also an IIT Kharagpur alumnus, took some time out to speak to ET , spelling out his party's strategy for the coming round of electoral battle. Excerpts:
What, according to you, are the main issues in the polls?
The main issue is how to get rid of Mayawati - her corruption, her behaviour, her disconnect from the people, patronisation extended to criminals. All sections of the society are angry with her because of five years of misgovernance and misrule. Till now, there was no alternative available to the people of UP.
Ajit Singh met Vilas Rao Deshmukh on Land Acquisition Act at Krishi Bhavan
Ajit Singh met Vilas Rao Deshmukh on Land Acquisition Act at Krishi Bhavan
India's leading farmer leader Chaudhary Ajit Singh today met Minister for Rural Development, Vilas Rao Deshmukh with his demand to make changes in the archaic 1984 Land Acquisition Act. He claimed after meeting Vilasrao at Krishi Bhavan that he was assured by the minister that the Bill will be introduced in the coming Parliament session. MP Jayant Chaudhary also accompanied his father today. Ajit Singh was the first leader who tried to visit Bhatta Parsaul village in Greater Noida after peasant movements against alleged land acquisition. But he was stopped before he cound enter the village.
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