Dushyant, Digvijay immature lads, played into hands of vested interests that wanted to harm us
CHANDIGARH:Former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala (84), who was sentenced to 10-year jail in 2013 following his conviction in the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam, is fighting an uphill battle. The octogenarian politician has a lot to deal with. The split in the INLD, rivalry within the family, party’s poor performance in Jind by-poll, the break-up of alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and desertions have come at a time when the INLD, out for power of the past 15 years in the state, prepares itself for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Out on a furlough from the Tihar jail, he spoke to Hitender Rao on a number of issues during his whirlwind tour of the state.
The feud in Chautala family, resulting in the creation of a new political outfit by your grandson Dushyant Chautala, threatens to undermine the support base of INLD. Did you foresee this situation?
My grandsons were led astray by vested interests. These vested interests have tricked them into believing that future belongs to them. Unhe sabz baagh dikha kar bargala liya hai. Both of them got swayed. It is but natural that the party would suffer due to this.
How do you plan to overcome the setback caused to the INLD?
Our workers are our greatest strength. I feel overwhelmed by the efforts they have made to keep the party flag high in my absence. Many workers who got swayed by my grandsons and quit the INLD have come back to the party fold. This is a good sign for us. But we will never allow those who worked against the interests of the INLD to make a comeback.
Does your absence pose a big challenge for your party’s prospects?
I am quite confident that by the time the assembly polls in Haryana are announced I will be out of the jail. I am filing a petition in the court to press for special remission of sentence.
Will you consider forgiving Dushyant and Digvijay if they seek an apology?
The INLD is not a familyrun organisation. It was founded on the principles and ideology of Chaudhary Devi Lal. Those who agree with this ideology are welcome to join the party. But it would not be possible to accommodate those who wanted to use the party platform for their selfish interests.
Were you disappointed with the way your elder son, Ajay Chautala backed his sons, Dushyant and Digvijay, to cause a split in the INLD?
It’s quite possible that Dushyant and Digvijay did not listen to Ajay at all. As per the law, both I and Ajay cannot contest elections. So it’s possible that Ajay wanted his sons to get an opportunity to contest.
Do you now regret giving a party ticket to Dushyant for Lok Sabha polls? His ambitions grew manifold after he won the Hisar seat.
In politics, maturity is very important. These lads (Dushyant and Digvijay) are immature. Dushyant won the election from Hisar due to the party’s support. But he misconstrued the love and affection he got from the public. Woh is ghalatfehmi ke shikaar ho gaye ki aane wala waqt unka hai (They mistakenly believed that the future belongs to them).
The Jind assembly seat was won by an INLD MLA in 2014. But your party badly lost the byelection and finished a poor fifth. What went wrong?
Our rivals had joined hands and plotted to damage the INLD in Jind bypoll. They succeeded to some extent. I would call it a deep conspiracy. Look at the sequence of events. Krishan Middha, the son of deceased Jind MLA Hari Chand Middha, was lured by the BJP. A huge amount of money was spent to buy votes. Our rivals only wanted to harm us.
But why did the INLD candidate finish fifth in Jind bypoll ?
Money played a big role in this election. My information is that crores of rupees were spent by our rivals to buy votes. They spent Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 to buy each vote. We could not have matched them.
Why did the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) did so well in Jind bypoll, finishing runners up?
We were hampered to some extent by the switch Krishan Middha made to the BJP. But you know Dushyant and Digvijay also bought votes in the bypoll. Money, as I said, played a big role in the Jind bypoll.
What are the options for the INLD after the break-up of alliance with the BSP? Is the INLD pushing for an alliance with the BJP?
Any political party with a similar ideology can be considered for an electoral alliance. We have not entered into any kind of a dialogue with the BJP so far. But it’s a fact that INLD and BJP were once allies and contested elections together. And in politics nothing is impossible. Everything will get worked out once the general elections are announced.
Has your conviction in a corruption case made the INLD untouchable?
The case against me was a political conspiracy. People know this and have sympathy for us. If you study the case, I did not have any role in the recruitments. We have filed a final appeal before the Supreme Court. I am hopeful that justice will prevail.
How do you evaluate the stint of the BJP government in Haryana? It’s a common refrain that chief minister ML Khattar is a nice person.
The BJP government in Haryana has nothing to show in terms of development or any acts of public welfare. The BJP made a number of promises in its election manifesto but did not fulfil a single commitment. That the chief minister is a good person is immaterial if he has not been able to keep the promises his party made.
What would be the role of
Raj Kumar Saini’s LSP in the coming elections? They recently entered into an electoral tie-up with the BSP.
Saini is forming an anti-BJP front. He would hurt the BJP the most.
After the mayoral elections and Jind bypoll, political experts feel that voters in Haryana have been polarised. There is a clear division between Jats and non-Jats now. How will this affect the poll scenario?
I disagree with this theory. There is a no polarisation of voters. I will give you an example. The Jat votes tilted towards the ruling BJP in the Jind bypoll. And it happened primarily because of money power.