INLD’s bid to revive political fortunes suffers setback

Party’s offshoot led by OP Chautala’s grandson Dushyant had cornered sizeable Jat vote bank in the 2019 assembly polls

CHANDIGARH: The sentencing of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala in a disproportionate assets case on Friday further compounded the sagging fortunes of his political outfit, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

The INLD, which was once a potent political force in Haryana, gradually started wilting after Chautala’s 2013 conviction and sentencing in the JBT teachers’ recruitment case.

INLD was the prime challenger to the ruling Congress in 2013, having given the latter a run for its money in the 2009 assembly elections. While Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress won 40 seats in the 2009 polls in the 90-member assembly and needed support of independents to form government, the INLD surprised everyone by winning 31 seats.

In 2009, the party got about 25% vote share as compared to about 35% of Congress. It was clear that Chautala’s graph was spiralling. However, his and elder son Ajay Singh’s conviction in 2013 came as a big setback for the family and the party.

While his son Abhay Chautala took control of the INLD, his grandsons Dushyant and Digvijay broke away to form their own political outfit, the Jannayak Janta Party in 2018. Dushyant and Digvijay’s father, Ajay Chautala was also sentenced to 10 years in the JBT case.

The JJP, which is a part of the BJP-led ruling coalition in Haryana, had secured a vote share of 14.79% in its debut assembly poll in 2019. It had grabbed a sizeable chunk of the Jat vote bank of Chautala’s INLD, which got a vote share of about 2.44% in the 2019 assembly polls.

Statistics show that traditionally, the INLD had secured about 24-27% vote share in the previous three assembly polls in 2014, 2009 and 2004.

After the INLD supremo was released from Tihar jail last year after doing time in the JBT case, the party cadres were upbeat and prospects of Chautala’s party gathering momentum got some hope. Though Chautala cannot contest elections, being disqualified for further period of six years after his release, his organisational skills, oration and political management, could have been a plus for re-bonding of party sympathisers and supporters. Convicted in the DA case, Chautala though would actually serve two years and eight months in prison. His absence will have a negative effect on the party in light of the 2024 polls, say political experts.

Prof Ashutosh Kumar, a political scientist from the Panjab University, Chandigarh said the conviction of the former CM in a DA case will not generate any sympathy for the INLD. “The new leader on the block is Dushyant Chautala, the inheritor. The scenario is the same as in the Samajwadi Party where Akhilesh has come up and replaced Mulayam Singh,” Prof Kumar said.

While sentencing Chautala on Friday, the CBI judge said the maxim, “power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely” can be applied to his case.

“In sentencing a convict, balance of aggravated and mitigating factors have to be taken into account. In the present case, the mitigating factors which have come on record is the fact of convict being aged 87, partial disability of 60% due to polio, his suffering from other ailments including hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, lower respiratory tract infection and the fact that convict has faced trial for around 12 years,” the court said.

“On the other hand, aggravating factors are the previous conviction of convict in JBT teachers’ recruitment case where he was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for having abused his official position as the Haryana chief minister. He is also facing a trial before this court for the offence under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act wherein charge has been framed and the matter is now pending at the stage of trial,” the court added.