INLD hand in glove with BJP, says Congress

‘Friendly match to fool the public’

October 05, 2019 10:25 pm | Updated 10:25 pm IST - CHANDIGARH

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. /File photo

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. /File photo

After the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), once the principal Opposition party in Haryana, failed to field a candidate from the high-profile Karnal Assembly constituency against Chief Minister and BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar, eyebrows are being raised over the episode in the political circles.

Haryana Congress president Kumari Selja on Saturday alleged that the INLD was in hand in glove with the ruling BJP.

“They are playing a friendly match to befool the public. But, they have been exposed and the people of Haryana will teach them a lesson in the upcoming Assembly polls by defeating both parties,” Ms. Selja told The Hindu .

The INLD has played down the matter, saying that its candidate could not file the nomination as he was not able to reach the office of the Returning Officer on time.

Mr. Khattar, who had won from the Karnal seat in the 2014 Assembly polls, is fighting to retain the seat. The Jannayak Janta Party has fielded constable Tej Bahadur Yadav, who was sacked from the BSF in 2017 after he uploaded a video on a social media site complaining about the food served to the troops.

The Congress has announced Tarlochan Singh as its candidate.

The INLD, which saw a split in 2018, has fielded 83 candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls. The INLD’s alliance partner, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), has fielded three candidates.

‘Baseless charge’

“There’s no such thing as being in hand in glove with the BJP. It’s a baseless allegation from the opposite parties. Our candidate couldn’t reach on time to file his nomination with the returning officer,” INLD’s chief media coordinator Harbansh Singh told The Hindu . However, a party source privy to the matter said the party had not selected any candidate for Karnal. Even the final candidates’ list of the party shared with the media on October 4 did not mention any candidate for Karnal.

The INLD has also not fielded candidates from the Sirsa and Meham seats, citing it was strategic decision of the party to support Independent candidates in these constituencies to keep the Congress and the BJP out.

The INLD has been passing through rough patch amid a bitter power struggle between the two brothers — Ajay Chautala, who is serving a 10-year jail sentence in a teacher recruitment scam, and Abhay Chautala, who was the Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly and had been running the party since 2013. As the family feud intensified, Ajay and his son Dushyant Chautala, the former Member of Parliament from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, later floated a new political outfit – the Jannayak Janata Party. Most of the prominent leaders, including several sitting MLAs, had left the INLD in the past one year and joined opposite parties.

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