Om Prakash Chautala expels his two grandsons from INLD
CHANDIGARH: The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Friday suffered a jolt when party chief Om Prakash Chautala ordered the expulsion of his grandsons, Dushyant Chautala and Digvijay Chautala, from primary membership of the party.
The two were accused of indiscipline, hooliganism and spreading disaffection within the party during the birthday celebrations of former deputy prime minister and their great-grandfather, Devi Lal, on October 7. Dushyant, a first-time Lok Sabha MP from Hisar, is the elder son of jailed INLD leader Ajay Singh Chautala. Digvijay is Dushyant’s younger brother.
The events of October 7 and the subsequent defiant stance of the brothers were seen as a challenge to the party hierarchy, especially the leadership of their uncle, Abhay Singh Chautala. Abhay, the leader of the opposition and face of the party since his father, OP Chautala, and elder brother, Ajay Chautala, were jailed for 10 years in a teacher recruitment scam in 2013, was not acceptable to the two brothers who looked desperate to carve space at the top for themselves.
POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS
The expulsion of Chautala’s grandsons from the INLD will have far-reaching political ramifications and could actually lead to divisions in the party’s rank and file. The development does not augur well for the party in view of the November-december assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The action against the two will also have a bearing on the future of their mother and INLD legislator from Dabwali, Naina Chautala, who looked displeased at the initiation of disciplinary action against her sons and accused opponents within the INLD of plotting against them. While the stance of jailed INLD leader Ajay Chautala on the issue is not known, the punitive action against his sons surely will not go down well with him.
‘SAW INDISCIPLINE’
Both Dushyant and Digvijay were suspended from the primary membership of the party and served show-cause notices last month after their supporters booed the top INLD leadership at the October 7 Gohana rally.
Ordering their expulsion from LNJP hospital in Delhi, INLD chief Chautala on Friday said he did not need any outside evidence since he was a witness to the indiscipline and unruly scenes at Gohana. Chautala said he was also continuously interrupted during his address – he was then on parole -- on that day. “I still had referred the matter to the disciplinary action committee of the party. The committee concluded that both are guilty as charged,” Chautala said in a statement. Earlier, the party chief had also dissolved the youth wing of the INLD and party’s student arm, Indian National Students’ Organisation (INSO). But his actions to rein in his two grandsons did not bring the desired results. The two continued to remain defiant. Dushyant demanded evidence on the basis of which he was suspended from the party.
‘NOT AN EASY DECISION’
The INLD chief said since Dushyant and Digvijay are members of his family, it was not an easy decision for him to order their expulsion. “But all my life, I followed the principles and ideals of Chaudhary Devi Lal for whom the party was always bigger than an individual. Thus, I had to make a choice between the party and my family members,” Chautala said in a statement.