“The Bharatiya Janata Party gave a slogan to cross the 75-seat mark in 2019, but the people of Haryana rejected it. However, some selfish people supported the party to form its government. But the coalition government has created problems for the masses, instead of addressing their grievances,” said Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) secretary general and party’s Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala in a veiled attack on the party’s breakaway faction Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the junior partner in the State’s alliance government, at a gathering in Faridabad’s Fathepur village on the 17th day of “Parivartan Padayatra”.
Being out of power for around two decades and hit by a revolt by Ajay Chautala’s family which led to a split in the party and formation of the JJP in 2018, the INLD has been pushed to political oblivion in the State over the years with a lone MLA in the 2019 Assembly elections.
INLD secretary general Abhay Chautala during the padayatra. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Fighting for the party’s survival, Mr. Abhay Chautala has now embarked upon a 215-day “padayatra” — flagged off by its supremo Om Prakash Chautala in Nuh’s Shringar village on February 24 — passing through all 90 Assembly constituencies of the State to reconnect with the electorate ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections next year and reclaim the political ground ceded to its breakaway group.
INLD veteran Om Prakash Chautala is occasionally seen during the padayatra. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Led by Mr. Abhay Chautala and his sons Karan and Arjun — with intermittent appearances by former Chief Minister and octogenarian leader Mr. Om Prakash Chautala — the “padayatra” has covered six districts in south Haryana so far to reach Jhajjar earlier this month. Aiming at the party’s core vote bank in the rural areas, mostly the Jats, the “padayatra” would pass through almost half of the State’s over 6,000 villages.
Eye on expansion
“The significance of the 2024 Assembly election for the party cannot be over-emphasised. We are not just targeting the party’s core voters in the villages, but also holding public meetings in the cities to expand to urban areas. Even if we manage to win back our core vote bank ceded to the JJP, it will be a big boost to the party’s prospects,” said INLD spokesperson Rakesh Sihag, adding that the response to the “yatra” was “overwhelming” and the party hoped to return to power.
To brighten its chances in the elections next year, the party has kept its doors open for alliance with any political party, including the Congress, to defeat the “anti-farmer” BJP-JJP alliance in the State. Mr. Om Prakash Chautala also made a call for a grand national coalition against the BJP and the birth anniversary celebration of the late Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal last year provided a platform for Opposition’s unity with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Deputy Tejashwi Yadav, along with several leaders from the different political parties, sharing the dais.
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INLD secretary general Abhay Chautala speaking during the padayatra. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Mr. Abhay Chautala, at a press conference earlier this month, said the “padayatra” would culminate at Kurukshetra on September 25 coinciding with the birth anniversary celebration of Chaudhary Devi Lal and the event would be attended by senior Opposition leaders. He added that the alliance would be forged with only the parties sharing the dais. “We will consider an alliance with the Congress if the party comes to us and the interests of the State remain its priority,” said Mr. Abhay Chautala.
Even as the INLD-Congress alliance in the State remains a far-fetched idea, political analysts believe that the fading popularity of the JJP with a section of its core vote bank, especially Jats, turning against it for supporting the BJP and its “anti-farmer” stand during farmers’ agitation offers a window of opportunity to the INLD to make a come back to the State’s politics.
