Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala on Tuesday set aside speculations about coming together of his party and its offshoot outfit – the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Haryana.
On Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala’s father Ajay Chautala met his estranged younger brother, Mr. Abhay Chautala, causing speculations among party ranks about a truce between both the leaders of the “Chautala family”.
Asked about the meeting and the INLD’s future political prospects, Mr. Abhay Chautala told The Hindu over telephone that “...the chapter is closed. When they have gone away and we are separate now, then it’s over.”
A party source said “nothing much should be read into the meeting as it was a customary one among the family members.”
Deepavali greetings
The meeting took place at the family’s farmhouse in Teja Khera in Sirsa district and Deepavali greetings were exchanged. “The two brothers had a cordial conversation,” said the source.
The INLD, led by former Chief Minister O.P. Chautala saw a split in 2018 after a bitter power struggle between Ajay Chautala, who is serving a 10-year jail sentence in a teacher recruitment scam , and Mr. Abhay Chautala, who was the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and had been running the party since 2013. Amid the family feud, Mr. Ajay Chautala and Mr. Dushyant Chautala floated the JJP.
In the recent Assembly polls, the JJP made an impressive debut by securing 10 seats, and struck a deal with the BJP to form a coalition government. The INLD saw a near washout from the political arena by winning just one seat.
Ahead of Mr. Dushyant Chautala’s oath as Deputy Chief Minister last week, Mr. Ajay Chautala was released from the Tihar jail on a two-week furlough.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 40 seats in the recent polls but fell short of six seats to form a government on its own. The majority mark is 46. The BJP and the JJP then decided to form an alliance government.
