Over three-month-long farmers' agitation on Delhi borders has triggered fresh political alignments in Uttar Pradesh which goes to polls in a year, in 2022.

The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal are all set to contest the 2022 UP assembly elections in alliance and a few more small parties may join this alliance. The SP, RLD along with Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BSP had deserted the alliance soon after the parliamentary polls in May 2019.

Sources in Samajwadi Party said talks were on with small parties, particularly with Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar.

The sources said, "Akhilesh Yadav and Chandrashekhar have spoken to each other several times and if all goes well, west UP may see a SP-RLD-Bhim Army combine in the 2022 assembly elections."

Chandrashekhar, when asked, evaded all questions about the possible alliance. He, however, said that all parties must come together to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party which had caused irreparable damage to the state and its people, particularly the weaker sections.

A senior Bhim Army functionary, meanwhile, said that in the present situation in western UP, the SP-RLD-Bhim Army alliance could prove a winning combination.

"The best thing is that Bhim Army and RLD are not in the race for the chief minister's post. Alliances break only when there is more than one claimant for the top post," he said.

Chandrashekhar has said that his first priority is to contest the coming panchayat elections under the Bhim Army banner.

"We will build our organisation till the booth level in the panchayat elections and then decide our future course of action," he said.

Political analysts feel that the SP-RLD-Bhim Army combine could bring Muslims, Jats and Dalits on a single platform and this could upset the BJP's apple cart in the region. For the Samajwadi Party, this could be the much-needed shot in the arm.

Akhilesh has also been looking for a formidable ally for the assembly polls after the BSP walked out on him last year and the Bhim Army fits the bill.

The icing on the cake, meanwhile, is the sudden resurgence of Rashtriya Lok Dal which has been catapulted to the political centre stage in western UP during the farmers' agitation. Any alliance which has RLD is bound to start with a major advantage.