At Sonepat rally, Chautala bats for Mayawati as PM
2019 ELECTIONS INLD supremo, whose party is in alliance with BSP, says he is making efforts to form a third front of oppn parties ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls
GOHANA (SONEPAT): Indian National Lok Dal president Om Prakash Chautala on Sunday said his party will work towards bringing the opposition parties together to make BSP supremo Mayawati the next prime minister after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Out on a two-week parole, the former Haryana chief minister was addressing a rally organised here to mark the 105th birth anniversary of senior INLD leader and his father Devi Lal. Om Prakash Chautala is serving a 10-year jail term in a teachers’ recruitment scam.
“..we will work towards uniting the Opposition so that Mayawati becomes the next Prime Minister,” he told the gathering.
Om Prakash Chautala said Lal had a dream that the countrymen should have enough food, shelter, good education and access to affordable health.
“Today, he is not amongst us but we have to follow his ideals and work towards realising his dreams,” he said.
CHAUTALA IS ON A TWOWEEK PAROLE FROM TIHAR JAIL WHERE HE IS SERVING A 10YEAR SENTENCE IN JBT RECRUITMENT SCAM
GOHANA(SONEPAT): Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala, who made his first public appearance after a long gap of over four years, on Sunday said he will make efforts for the formation of a third front ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls to make BSP chief Mayawati the next prime minister of the country.
The INLD is in alliance with the BSP for both Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Haryana, due next year.
The former chief minister, who is on a two-week parole from Tihar jail where he is serving a ten-year sentence in the JBT recruitment scam, was addressing an INLD rally organised here to mark the 105th birth anniversary of his father and former deputy prime minister Devi Lal.
“I am out of the jail for a few days, but I will make efforts for the formation of a third front at the Centre so that the daughter of a poor man could become the prime minister,” Chautala said.
The INLD supremo and his elder son Ajay Chautala were convicted by a CBI court for irregularities in the recruitment of junior basic training (JBT) teachers during INLD’s 2000-2005 regime . As per the Representation of People Act, both he and his elder son cannot contest polls till 2029.
He urged INLD workers to strengthen the party organiation on the ground and ensure its win in the next elections.
Putting to rest speculations that the BSP may part ways with the INLD before elections, leaders of both parties assured that the INLD-BSP alliance was strong like a rock and it was formed to make Mayawati the next prime minister of the country and Chautala the next chief minister of Haryana.
‘CONG LEADERS CONSPIRED TO SEND ME BEHIND THE BARS’
Chuatala also lashed out at the Congress and accused party leaders of hatching a conspiracy to send him behind the bars.
“When I went to jail, Congress leaders thought the INLD will perish, but I thank all the party workers for working hard to keep the party alive,” he added.
He also appealed young workers to maintain discipline and work on the ground to strengthen the party . “I assure you that good workers will be preferred during distribution of party tickets.”
Earlier, BSP’s Haryana in-charge Meghraj Singh read out Mayawati message at the rally and said she has asserted that the INLD-BSP alliance is intact and it is going to stay. “Mayawati has stated that our alliance is strong even as the BJP and Congress are making misleading statements about its future as they are worried over the popularity of the alliance,” he said.
BSP’s Haryana president Prakash Bharti said the decision about alliance’s chief minister will be taken after the elections. “Our first priority is to ensure the alliance’s victory in the elections.”
Meanwhile, the INLD failed to bring any prominent nationallevel leaders, including Mayawati, to attend Devi Lal’s birth anniversary event this year. Gujarat former chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela was the special guest on the occasion.
INLD PROMISES
Meanwhile, Chautala promised government jobs to educated youth, loan waiver to farmers and free electricity to agriculture sector in Haryana, if the INLDBSP alliance is voted to power in the next elections. “I was sent to jail for giving jobs to 3,200 youths of Haryana, but I can assure you that I will continue providing jobs to youths, whether they hang me for doing so,” he added.
He also announced to increase the old age pension to Rs 3000 per month, besides providing free quality education to the children of weaker sections and free treatment to poor families, by setting up an educational institute and hospital with funds from the Devi Lal Trust.
He said the party’s national executive members will meet over the next two days to decide the strategy for the next elections.