INLD splits, Ajay Chautala to float new party Party
POWER SHOW Of 18 party MLAs, only 3, including Ajay’s wife Naina Chautala, attend the Jind rally; Hisar MP Dushyant vows not to go back to INLD again
JIND: Alienated after his expulsion from the INLD, Ajay Chautala, the incarcerated elder son of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, on Saturday announced that he will float a new political outfit on December 9.
“We don’t want to get into any mess. Thus, I hand over the INLD and its party symbol (spectacles) to my younger brother, Billu (Abhay Singh Chautala),” Ajay Chautala, who is facing a 10-year jail term along with father OP Chautala since 2013 in a teachers’ recruitment scam, told his supporters in Jind.
The announcement comes amid the simmering power struggle that also saw the expulsion of Ajay’s sons — Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala and Digvijay Chautala — from the Jatcentric party. The two were shunted out weeks after their slogan-shouting supporters allegedly targeted Abhay Chautala at an INLD rally in Gohana.
Ajay, who is out on parole, had called a meeting of party office-bearers and supporters in Jind on Saturday for a show of strength after his sons’ expulsion. Ajay was expelled from the party on Wednesday for “antiparty activities” after he remained adamant on holding the rebel meeting and rally in Jind. He was also removed as party’s secretary general.
Ajay said the decision to float new outfit was formally taken after holding closed-door discussions with loyalists and workers at Jind. Of the 18 INLD MLAs in Haryana, the Ajay Chautala camp, got the support of only three – his wife and Dabwali legislator Naina Singh Chautala, Uklana MLA Anoop Dhanak and Dadri MLA Rajdeep Phogat. None of the two INLD MLAs from Jind district – Parminder Dhull (Julana) and Pirthi Singh Nambardar (Narwana) — attended his event.
Though a number of former MLAs and INLD office bearers were present during the meeting, the big names were missing. Neither Ajay nor his father can contest elections till 2029, as per the Representation of People Act. Addressing workers, Ajay said since he would have to go back to prison he wants them to take care of his son Dushyant.
Earlier, addressing the gathering, Dushyant vowed never to return to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
“We have been expelled on the grounds of indiscipline. Can they give us any proof of our indiscipline? Can being popular among people be considered a flaw ,” he asked.
The MP said that his heart does not allow him to think about returning to the parent party from where they were unceremoniously thrown out. “We will never go back to the INLD,’’ he said.
However, he promised to get his grandfather Om Prakash Chautala on his side. “
We will get ‘dadaji’ on this manch and prove to him that those who tried to weaken the family have been proved wrong,’’ said Dushyant.
Ajay claimed that all Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) workers who were present in Jind have quit the party to join hands with them. “Our party workers have been humiliated many times. I apologise to them,’’ he said.
Likening to his younger sibling Abhay to Duryodhan, Ajay said: “Ja Duryodhan. Antim sankalp sunate hain. Ab ran hoga, Duryodhan tu dharashayi hoga aur hinsa ka uttardayi hoga (Duryodhan, hear our final pledge.
There will be war now and you will be punished. You will also be held responsible for the bloodshed).