INLD dissolves state unit, to reconstitute it

CHANDIGARH : The opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) dissolved its Haryana unit on Sunday. INLD leader Abhay Chautala said the state unit would be reconstituted by June 8.

Chautala said the party undertook a membership drive following which it was decided to revamp the state unit. “The party would like to bring in new faces and discard some of the non-performing members of the state unit,’’ he said.

The move is being seen as an effort to overhaul the party to give it a fresh impetus before the 2019 Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Former chief minister and party supremo Om Parkash Chautala, who is currently serving a ten-year sentence in Tihar jail in the JBT recruitment scam, would be instrumental in reconstituting the state unit. The INLD had recently entered into an electoral alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The tie-up with the BSP, initiated by the INLD with a view to consolidating Dalit voters in Haryana, is being seen as party’s last ditch attempt to grasp power in the state after a hiatus of decade-and-a-half.

Primarily, the INLD is aiming to pocket the Chamar votes which account for about 50% of the scheduled caste (SC) voters in Haryana. The Chamar voters have shown a proclivity to tilt towards BSP. The Balmikis account for 19% and Dhanaks for 12% of the SC vote bank. The Balmiki and Dhanak votes, however, get divided between the Congress and other parties. The reconstitution of the state unit could also mean prominent role to certain Dalit leaders. HTC