LUCKNOW: Three claimants will vie for the former Prime Minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh's political legacy when the second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 58 seats in 10 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh gets under way on April 13. Campaigning for this phase ended on Wednesday.

Incidentally, all the three claimants have political scores to settle with one another. The former Prime Minister's son and Rashtriya Lok Dal president, Chaudhary Ajit Singh's animosity with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh is well known. The RLD president also has an axe to grind with Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait. Mr. Tikait's son Rakesh Tikait has floated a new party, Bhartiya Kranti Dal (BKD), and aligned with the Congress. In this race for Charan Singh's political legacy, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have picked up issues, which were an anathema during Mr. Singh's lifetime.

This sugarcane rich region of the State is popularly known as the "Jat heartland" and is the birthplace of the realignment of the middle peasantry classes — the Jats, Gujjars, Muslims and Yadavs — under the leadership of Charan Singh in the 1960s. Mr. Mulayam Singh who claims that he is the actual political legatee of the Jat leader made his debut in politics during this phase of resurgence of the middle castes in Uttar Pradesh.

Crucial performance

Since the Chhotey Chaudhary (Ajit Singh) considered himself as the natural heir of his father's legacy, the RLD's performance here was crucial. The RLD has the biggest stakes in the second phase of polls. The party now has 15 MLAs in the Assembly (it is in session and the next sitting is scheduled for April 25). Of these, 11 are from the 58 seats in Western U.P. where polling will be held on Friday.

Mr. Singh, who recently failed to clinch a poll pact with the Congress and the Jan Morcha, was banking on the Jat-Muslim equation and his demand for "Harit Pradesh" comprising 11 districts of Western U.P.

Principal Secretary (Home) K. Chandramouli told reporters that 10 senior police officers of the rank of IG and DIG had been sent to the 10 districts for overseeing the poll arrangements. Mr. Chandramouli said the Central forces had to be deployed at the polling stations by 4 p.m. on Thursday.

He said Sector Magistrates had been directed to ensure the deployment of the security personnel within the specified time.

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