When Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) national president Abhay Singh Chautala on Thursday hit out at the Congress and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) for lending a helping hand to the BJP to form two successive governments in the state in 2024 and 2019, he was trying to touch a raw nerve in the Jat heartland, regarded as a bastion of Congress leader, Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Invoking the legacy of his grandfather and peasant leader, former deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal, the public gathering to mark Devi Lal’s 112th birth, was seen as a litmus test for Abhay Singh’s ability to reclaim party’s lost ground and project himself as the inheritor of the Chautala dynasty. This was particularly significant in view of the leadership transformation which took place in INLD with Abhay Singh taking over the party’s reins after the demise of his father, former chief minister, Om Prakash Chautala.
Addressing a rally here to mark the 112th birth anniversary of former deputy Prime Minister, Chaudhary Devi Lal, Abhay Singh said that former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of the Congress and his MP son Deepender Hooda were solely responsible for the shock victory of the BJP in the last year assembly polls. “Likewise, the JJP betrayed the people in 2019 by seeking votes in the name of Chaudhary Devi Lal only to forge a post-poll alliance with the BJP to help them get to power again,’’ he said at the event.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had been weakened by a vertical split which led to the formation of Dushyant Chautala’s JJP in 2018 and also faced electoral reverses in the last two assembly elections. Choosing Rohtak, a Jat heartland district, from where Chaudhary Devi Lal was also elected as MP in 1989, for this rally, the INLD chief has tried to leverage his grandfather’s mass appeal in the Jats and among peasants. After a vertical split in the Chautala clan in 2018, the INLD could win only one seat in 2019 and managed two seats in 2024 assembly polls. Former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal summed it up aptly when he said that Abhay Singh came to Rohtak to reclaim the legacy of his grandfather Chaudhary Devi Lal. “But some (referring to Hoodas) have a problem with Abhay’s decision to hold a rally at Rohtak. However, people here have wholeheartedly supported him,” Badal said.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had been weakened by a vertical split which led to the formation of Dushyant Chautala’s JJP in 2018 and also faced electoral reverses in the last two assembly elections. Choosing Rohtak, a Jat heartland district, from where Chaudhary Devi Lal was also elected as MP in 1989, for this rally, the INLD chief has tried to leverage his grandfather’s mass appeal in the Jats and among peasants. After a vertical split in the Chautala clan in 2018, the INLD could win only one seat in 2019 and managed two seats in 2024 assembly polls. Former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal summed it up aptly when he said that Abhay Singh came to Rohtak to reclaim the legacy of his grandfather Chaudhary Devi Lal. “But some (referring to Hoodas) have a problem with Abhay’s decision to hold a rally at Rohtak. However, people here have wholeheartedly supported him,” Badal said.
{{/usCountry}}“Bapu-Beta (Hooda and his son) are responsible for BJP’s victory in the 2024 assembly polls. Similarly in 2019, Jannayak Janata Party had helped in the formation of BJP’s government. JJP won 10 seats in 2019 as their candidates sought votes on Devi Lal Ji’s name. The people of Haryana have ensured the defeat of JJP candidates in last year’s polls and the Congress MLAs will face the similar results in the next assembly polls,” Abhay Singh said.
Political experts said that INLD’s decision to hold a rally in Rohtak was aimed at making the most of the disillusionment in the Deswali belt following formation of BJP government for a third time.
Professor Ashutosh Kumar who teaches Political Science at Panjab University said that the rally was to claim the legacy of Chaudhary Devi Lal, arguably the tallest Jat leader after Sir Chotu Ram and Chaudhary Charan Singh. “As such it is not only to challenge Bhupinder Hooda but also to Ajay Chautala’s JJP also,’’ Kumar said.
Kumar said that the JJP suffered in terms of decline of its popularity due to the failure of Dushyant Chautala to resign over the three farm laws.
“The JJP and the INLD are both family-run parties. So the fight is to decimate the claims of the other and to be the “ original” party led once by Devi Lal,’’ he added.
Several prominent leaders, including former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, Kashmir deputy chief minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Telangana lawmaker K Kavitha, who is the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and former Haryana minister and senior Congress leader Sampat Singh attended the rally. INLD chief Chautala promised to provide free electricity, double the pension amount for elderly people and eliminate unemployment, if INLD gets voted to power in the next assembly polls.
Sidelights
Sanjay Dutt lends helping hand to Abhay Singh
In a video message on Wednesday, actor Sanjay Dutt appealed to the people to reach Rohtak where the INLD is holding a rally to celebrate the birth anniversary of Devi Lal. He urged the people to pay tributes to Devi Lal and strengthen the hands of his brother Abhay Singh Chautala.
Brij Khap from Mewat tied a 131-metre turban to Abhay Singh Chautala. Rania MLA Arjun Chautala’s son Uddam Singh, fifth generation from Devi Lal family attended the rally.