Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary has confirmed that the party will actively contest in Punjab, stressing that while RLD is part of the NDA, it will maintain its independent political identity and organisational momentum.
“There is a lot of space there. As far as being part of NDA, I am here to strengthen NDA, but our party is also independently working…,” he said in an interview with Moneycontrol, while hinting at RLD’s intent to grow beyond its traditional bastion of western Uttar Pradesh and establish a presence in new states like Punjab, Haryana, and Telangana.
At the same time, he emphasised that RLD's vision goes beyond just electoral politics. “Let’s de-link RLD’s political presence and organisation from just contesting elections. It can also be about activism, taking up issues, creating an organisation where farmers have belief and trust,” he explained.
On how he plans to address farmers’ issues, especially in states like Punjab that were at the forefront of the farmers’ protest, Chaudhary took a grounded, policy-first approach. “Farmers' issues will always be a continuity. We always have to look at it progressively. Today our agriculture minister is very credible… and his working style creates an atmosphere of dialogue. That is the thing: no one in government can claim that we have all the answers. We have to sometimes listen to the farmers,” he said.
Highlighting the ecological and economic damage caused by monoculture farming in Punjab, he underlined the need for crop diversification. “It cannot be mandated, cannot be prescriptive, cannot be top-down. That agricultural practice has to be adopted by farmers.”
Chaudhary praised the National Oilseed Mission as a “progressive step” and called for greater state-level procurement of alternative crops to support minimum support prices. “Our dependency on imports has to come down. It is harming the Indian economy… and the increase in MSP needs to be supplemented by state governments also in procuring those crops,” he added.
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