Sources said BJP MP Shashank Mani Tripathi is expected to attend the rally, underlining RLD’s understanding with ally BJP since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The optics of the joint presence will signal good coordination within the NDA in the state.Rai said more rallies are being planned in east UP districts of Azamgarh, Ghazipur and Mau in the coming days. A senior RLD functionary said these rallies are intended to assess the party’s organisational strength in eastern UP where caste equations play a decisive role in election results.“The party has stepped up groundwork as part of its eastward policy. We need to move beyond our traditional base in west UP. We had some presence in eastern UP in the past and are working to revive it,” said RLD national general secretary Anupam Mishra.RLD functionaries say the party is active in select pockets of eastern UP, including Gorakhpur, Ballia, Gonda and Sant Kabir Nagar, to strengthen booth-level organisation and outreach among social groups.Political analysts too see RLD move as part of the expansion strategy. By moving beyond western UP’s Jat-dominated belt, RLD is attempting to reposition itself as a broader, statewide political force while remaining a constituent of the NDA in the state.Eastern UP has a different socio-political landscape from the western region. While west UP politics largely revolves around Jat-Muslim dynamics, Purvanchal is shaped by a complex caste matrix involving non-Yadav OBCs, upper castes, sub-castes within the OBC bloc, and a sizeable Dalit population. The electoral arithmetic in the region is fragmented and intensely competitive.A political analyst said RLD is still widely perceived as a west UP-centric Jat party and changing that perception will require sustained engagement and visible leadership presence in the region.East UP is dominated by the organisational networks and caste coalitions of the BJP, SP, and BSP, and making foray into it would be a challenge for RLD. Observers say if the RLD continues its alliance with BJP, it will need to carefully negotiate political space in Purvanchal without being overshadowed by its larger ally, even as it seeks to build an independent identity in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly polls.
