Ajit Singh

New Delhi, Dec. 20: The scions of the Nehru-Gandhi and Mulayam families are not the only ones raring to test the waters in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections early next year. A third youngster — Ajit Singh’s son — is also getting ready to jump into the fray.

Together, the three are likely to turn the polls — already a do-or-die duel between Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayavati — into a battle of the three babas as well.

While the Congress has started preparations to convert the elections into a launching pad for Rahul Gandhi and Mulayam is projecting his son Akhilesh Yadav as the future face of the Samajwadi Party, Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is silently working on readying the ground for the grand entry of Jayant Chaudhary — grandson of late Choudhary Charan Singh — into state politics.

Over the last three months, Jayant has been organising meetings of party workers in western Uttar Pradesh, the stronghold of the RLD.

Party leaders are tightlipped because Ajit Singh is waiting for an opportunity to formally announce his son’s entry into Uttar Pradesh politics.

Jayant, who studied at London School of Economics, is now in charge of the youth wing of the party.

According to RLD sources, Jayant has been asked by the party high command to select almost half-a-dozen candidates of his choice to be fiel-ded in the upcoming state elections.

“This will not only ensure the emergence a second generation of leadership in the party, but also provide Jayant a team to assist him in his political activities,” a party insider said.

The RLD is yet to select a constituency for Jayant. The sources, however, said the Jat leader’s son is likely to contest from Chaprauli in the Baghpat parliamentary constituency, which is now represented by Ajit Singh.

The decision to delay the announcement is meant to give Jayant time to associate himself with western Uttar Pradesh instead of restricting him to a particular constituency.

Although part of the coalition government led by Mulayam in Uttar Pradesh, the RLD has not yet decided whether it would contest the polls as an ally of the Samajwadi Party or join hands with the Congress.

The sources said Ajit Singh has been in touch with Congress leader Oscar Fernandes for quite some time, but the two are yet to work out a deal.