New Delhi, July 17: The government may have decided to rename Lucknow airport after former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, but its alliance with his son hasn’t taken off yet.

Ajit Singh appears intent on waiting a while longer to make sure which way the wind is blowing for him.

The leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which has three MPs, welcomed the renaming but added: “Better late than never.”

It was a two-year-old proposal, he explained.

The kisan (farmer) leader from western Uttar Pradesh is known to be a keen navigator when it comes to flying from one alliance to another, squeezing the most out of any given situation.

Leaving all options open, the US-educated Ajit said he was opposed to India turning to nuclear energy but felt there might be advantages for the country in the nuclear deal itself.

“We will get uranium for our existing plants, for instance, although I think the country is not ready for nuclear energy yet. The party will discuss the issue in a few days,” he said.

Ajit denied that his party MPs had met last month to discuss support for the nuclear deal, and said his decision on the trust vote would not depend solely on his stand on the Indo-US pact.

“The vote is also about new political equations and combinations that are emerging and how political parties would align before and after elections next year,” he told reporters after CPI chief A.B. Bardhan had met him at his home.

Bardhan, like the UPA, wants Ajit’s support but the RLD leader has more meetings lined up over the next few days.

One of them will involve leaders of the Telengana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS), who are, as of now, expected to vote against the government. For Ajit, who has been demanding a Harit Pradesh carved out of Uttar Pradesh, the TRS is a potential ally in a rejigged “third front”.

The RLD leader will also meet Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu.

Ajit is believed to be ready to meet Mayavati too but a Bahujan Samaj Party source suggested that the chief minister was not likely to meet him.