INLD splits, Ajay Chautala to float new party Party brass rallies behind Abhay, 13 MLAS attend meet
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. CHANDIGARH : Holding a parallel show in Chandigarh, senior INLD leader and leader of opposition in the Haryana assembly Abhay Chautala on Saturday said all claims of his elder brother Ajay Chautala had been exposed as he “failed to demonstrate his strength” during the Jind event.
“Claims were being made that most of the MLAS were with them. Only three MLAS were there, while 15 MLAS openly supported us,” Abhay said after the state executive meeting at Jat Bhawan in Sector 19 here.
He said the party executive, attended by MLAS, district presidents and other office bearers, has passed a resolution expressing faith in the leadership of Om Prakash Chautala.
Hitting out at his brother, Abhay said those who staked claim over the party have themselves left. “Unke sab daave jhooth ka pulinda sabit hue hain (All their claims have turned out to be a bunch of lies)’’, he said. Abhay said their so-called supporters would also vanish by December 9 when they planned to float a new outfit.
“Their attempts failed as 95% of the state executive was present in Chandigarh. Of the remaining 5%, I think only 2% may have gone with them,” he said.
Of the 18 party MLAS, 13 were present at the Abhay’s event. Along with Sirsa MP Charanjit Singh Rori and Rajya Sabha member Ram Kumar Kashyap, 19 of 22 district chiefs and all 90 ‘halqa’ presidents attended the power show.
Two party MLAS, Nagender Bhadana and Ram Chander Kamboj, had sent in written communication, expressing their inability to come.
Abhay predicted that members of the rival group will now try to find a party they can join. “They will try to do some ‘jugaad’. Forming and running a party is not everybody’s cup of tea,” Abhay said. On a possible compromise between the two brothers, he said the two young leaders should have apologised over the “hooliganism” at the rally.
“We were expecting Ajay to convince his sons and ask them to seek an apology from their grandfather. But he also went along with them,” he said. They also tried to misguide people that party supremo’s signature on letters expelling them was forged, he added.
To a question if the exit of Ajay and his family members would cause any dent to INLD, Abhay sharply replied in negative and held that the INLD would grow stronger now.
He said that the party along with ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would start “Adhikar Yatra” from Kurukshetra from December 1 and hold a rally in February.